At least 79 Nigerians, comprising 64 adults, 14 children and one pregnant woman are presently trapped in the City of Wuhan, the Peoples Republic of China, owing to the outbreak of the deadly COVID-19 virus, otherwise known as coronavirus, which has continued to ravage the Asian country.

For no fault of theirs, these set of Nigerians had been stranded in a foreign land despite having no sign of the disease, a situation that had made them call on the Federal Government to evacuate them back home, where they preferred to be quarantined, in case of any symptomatic evidence.

Anguish, fears and uncertainties are best ways to describe the plight of these Nigerians, who have been stranded in that city and other parts of the Asian country, for over one month due to restriction of movements imposed by the Chinese government.

Investigations by Saturday Telegraph revealed that there had been numerous cries of help and several SOS messages from these stranded Nigerians to the Federal Government, but help is taking forever to reach them.

Though there are still many Nigerians stranded in other parts of China, those in Wuhan are the prominent ones that had been able to reach out to the Nigerian government for help, which they alleged the Federal Government of turning down. As the plight of these businessmen and students-turned-emergency refugees continued to envelope the Nigerian community in Wuhan, the coronavirus disease has continued to affect the lives of both local and foreign nationals across the country.

While no immediate solution appears in sight for the disease, Saturday Telegraph, however, gathered that the impact of the disease appears to be taking its toll on the socio-political and economic life styles of Nigerians resident in the ancient city.

In separate telephone interviews, some of the stranded Nigerians spoke exclusively with our correspondents from Wuhan, though with a proviso that their identities be shielded for fears of being stigmatised.

We want to go home

One of the Nigerian students in Wuhan, (names withheld), confirmed that there are 79 of them who are currently held hostage in his own part of Wuhan, stressing that the impact of the virus had made their lives miserable.

He said while it is instructive to state that no Nigerian had been affected by the deadly disease, they are asking the Federal Government to come to their rescue by evacuating them back home. According to him, the lockdown being experience had made life static and repulsive, thereby necessitating government’s urgent intervention. He said: “My name is … I am one of those Nigerians living in Wuhan, China.

In Wuhan, we have about 79 Nigerians. We are 65 adults and 14 children. Among the adults, there is a pregnant one. Most of the Nigerians in Wuhan are students but we also have some few people who are working. Another Nigerian, who works at a food market in Wuhan, explained that the situation is becoming unbearable as they have neither food to eat nor water to drink. “Some of them are teachers and some do business. These are the categories of some of the works we do.

Currently, there is no Nigerian that is infected with this virus. But everyone is under lockdown. What the lockdown means is that we all stay indoors – no cars, no train, no bus, no flights. Everything had been on lockdown.

“When this thing began to cause panic, we reached out to our embassy and they also reached out to us to allay our fears that they have informed the Federal Government of our fears. But when we started seeing other countries evacuating their nationals, we began to ask for evacuation.

“To the best of my knowledge, the embassy has been communicating with the authorities back in Nigeria but we are yet to get anything from the Federal Government in that regard. But up till now the embassy is still getting in touch with us but what we have gotten so far is that the government back at home is not really in support of evacuating us.”

We got only N1m from ambassador

Yet, a third Nigerian, a female, who happened to be an executive member of the Association of Nigerians in Wuhan, spoke of how they were able to arrive at the census of Nigerians currently in Wuhan, saying that they used a mobile platform to conduct a survey among themselves.

She also confirmed that the group got an assistance of N1 million from the Nigerian Ambassador to China, for their upkeep while noting that the money was shared equally among the 65 adults. “We got a little assistance. The ambassador made a personal donation of N1 million which is about Y20,000 in Chinese currency.

We also had Nigerians from other cities in China who made personal donations, some of them bought some things and sent us, like protective facilities, pads, hand sanitisers, masks and diapers for us women. “Some of these things have not been able to get to Wuhan because of the lockdown but they also sent some cash.

The money so far received here by the community, have so far been shared amongst Nigerians here and it had been received.” While restating the call on the Federal Government to come to their rescue, she said: “the main call of most Nigerians here in Wuhan at this moment is evacuation.

If there were commercial means to leave, we wouldn’t be calling on the Federal Government to come and evacuate us. “I think it is important we make this clear.

To leave this city in the current situation demands diplomatic support. Every country that has evacuated its people or every person who had left did that through diplomatic support of their countries. “The countries sent flights to evacuate their countrymen. That is the only means through which these can be done. Some people have talked about airlines coming to help us, but I don’t know how that can be possible without the support of the Federal Government and the embassy of Nigeria in China,” she said.

Oil prices fall as coronavirus spread beyond China heightens demand fears

Global concern resurfaced yesterday when oil prices fell amid fears over fuel demand as the coronavirus epidemic spread further beyond China, while major crude producers stood pat on any early action to cut output to support the market. Brent crude LCOc1 was down 28 cents, or 0.5%, at $59.03 a barrel by 0332 GMT, while U.S. crude CLc1 was also off by 28 cents, or 0.5%, at $53.60 a barrel. By yesterday, South Korean authorities confirmed 52 new coronavirus infections, Yonhap reported.

The streets of Daegu, the country’s fourth largest city, were deserted on Thursday after dozens of people there went down with the pathogen in what authorities described as a “super-spreading” event.

In China itself, the world’s biggest importer of crude oil, new cases also rose on Friday from the day before even as Beijing presses on with efforts to contain the spread that has largely paralysed the world’s second-biggest economy. Stratfor oil analyst, Greg Priddy, said through an email, that: “I think there is a lot of reason for caution right now, as the impact of coronavirus on demand is still unclear.

“If it begins to look like the impact will be modest, that could affect Russia’s decision at the March 5-6 OPEC+ meeting on whether they are willing to endorse a further cut.”

FG releases N386m to prevent importation

The Federal Government has released a total sum of N386m towards boosting its preparedness for the prevention of the importation and possible outbreak of the virus in Nigeria. The Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, had earlier submitted a memo to the Presidency about two weeks ago requesting for the sum of N620m to strengthen preparedness and interventions for proactive measures to prevent the importation of the coronavirus virus to the country. While addressing journalists yesterday in Abuja, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Abdullahi Mashi, said the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has received a sum of N315 million. (Saturday Telegraph)

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