Stranded Nigerians currently in Wuhan, the Chinese city where coronavirus broke out two weeks ago, has appealed to the federal government to help evacuate them from the virus ravaged city.
The virus which had killed 362 people in China, has forced countries to commence evacuation of their citizens from China.
According to TheCable, a Nigerian businessman, who did not want his identity disclosed and resident in Wuhan, confirmed that there are over 50 Nigerians who are in Wuhan city at the moment.
According to him, they all are willing to leave China because of the situation as there are fears that things could get worse.
He told the publication, “When this virus broke out, the Nigerian embassy in China contacted us and asked us to form a group on WeChat (a multipurpose messaging social media app) where all Nigerians who are in Wuhan could communicate on the latest development.”
“We told them that none of us had contacted the virus but we were worried and needed to be evacuated. But they told us to exercise patience since no country had evacuated its citizens because of the outbreak.
“We then asked them to provide us with face masks and some items that we could use, especially those who have children. Purchasing items have been difficult since the outbreak of this epidemic. The masks are no longer available in stores that open briefly on a daily basis and if you go online, they are very expensive. We are 57 Nigerians in Wuhan and government has banned public movement without masks. We expected the embassy to assist us with this but nothing of such happened.”
According to the man, all efforts to reach Ahmad Jidda, Nigerian ambassador to China, and Bakori Aliyu Usman, an official of the Nigerian embassy in Beijing who contacted them in the early days of the outbreak, have proved abortive.
Another Nigerian resident in Wuhan also told the publication that they are worried that the Nigerian embassy in China is not doing enough to help the stranded citizens.
He said, “The other day we read in the news that we are just 16 Nigerians in Wuhan; this is a pure lie. We are over 50 Nigerians here as I speak to you. We have been abandoned by government; we called the consulate in Shanghai, no response, we reached out to consulate in Guangzhou still no assurance.”
“The situation is getting out of hand. There is a Nigerian here who just came on a visit; he was about returning home when this virus broke out here; now he is trapped. There is a student who was sick and was finding it difficult to get adequate treatment here; plans were being made to move him out of China before this issue of coronavirus outbreak, now he is also trapped. There are people with children here, how does the government expect them to cope when the city is virtually on lock down? We are stranded here; the federal government should please rescue us… shops are closed, banks shut, we find it difficult to get the things we need. Although, we are not out of cash or foodstuff, we don’t know how long this situation will continue.”
He said they have written to Abike Dabiri-Erewa, chairperson of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), seeking help but Abdur-Rahman Balogun, spokesman of NIDCOM chairperson, said there are no plans to evacuate anyone from China.
“Let them come if they are willing to… we have made arrangements for their safety in China but if they want to come on their own volition, no problem,” he said.
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