The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian, has declared that no Nigerian living in China is infected with the dreaded coronavirus.
Pingjian who made this known in Abuja on Monday said Nigeria is so far unaffected by the virus, which has recorded 21,558 suspected cases with 361 persons dead since it broke out in China.
It was learnt that Nigerians who live in Wuhan, the Chinese city where coronavirus broke out two weeks ago, have called on the federal government to evacuate them.
Meanwhile, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, said 16 Nigerians who are in Wuhan have not indicated interest to return home.
According to him, “I know we have Nigerians in Wuhan; our Embassy in China has confirmed that we have about 16 Nigerians in Wuhan and they are in touch with them.
“They have, however, not indicated their interest to come home. They will, however, contact our embassy if they like to come home,”
A Nigerian resident in Wuhan disclosed that there are over 50 Nigerians who are in the city at the moment.
Contrary to the minister’s statement, he said they have all shown interest to leave China because of the situation. The businessman, who did not want to be named, expressed fears that things could get worse.
He said: “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.”
Earlier, The Herald reported that the minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said that he has no fear in working with Chinese people because coronavirus is not a deadly disease.
He disclosed this on Monday in an interview with Channels Television who featured him on Sunrise Daily programme.
Coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province in China, followed by Philippines and the Uk. According to reports, the disease has killed over 300 people in the Asian country, and recorded death in the Philippines.
However, Ameachi stated that he is confident that he cannot contract the disease. This is because the Chinese expatriates he works with have not travelled to China since the outbreak of the deadly virus
