Coronavirus: Over 50 Nigerians Trapped In Wuhan Beg FG For Evacuation

Nigerians trapped in Wuhan, the source-city of the deadly Coronavirus, have cried out to the Federal Government to evacuate them from the city.

The Minister of Information, Lai Muhammed, had earlier claimed that only 16 Nigerians are in Wuhan and are being kept in touch with by the government.

In a report by TheCable however, a Nigerian businessman trapped in the city said there are  are 57 Nigerians in Wuhan as against the Federal Government’s claim of 16.

“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,” he said.

“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 of 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.”

The man said 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 ended in futility.

Another Nigerian resident in Wuhan told TheCable that they are worried that the Nigerian embassy in China is not handling the situation properly.

He said other countries have started evacuating their citizens because of the situation but Nigerians do not know their fate.

“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,” he told TheCable.

“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 no form of assistance has been rendered.

One of the Nigerian students in Wuhan, said other countries have began evacuating their students from Wuhan.

“Azerbaijan actually sent an aircraft to evacuate just 10 of their citizens from Wuhan. Saudi Arabia evacuated just four of their own citizens; the Egyptians left earlier today (yesterday).

I do not know how many they were. Turkey evacuated 40 people, United Kingdom (UK) and South Korea have sent aircrafts twice within this week to evacuate their citizens. I do not know why Nigerian government has decided to leave us here in Wuhan.

“Over 50 of us, especially the ones with kids, really want to leave as soon as possible. They are worried because of the increasing number of dead and infected people and being indoors for 11 days and counting. Our state of mind isn’t the same as there is no help in sight. So, we are all worked up mentally aside the decreasing availability of resources,” the student said.