Airport, Lagos were on Wednesday thrown into panic as a suspected
Ebola patient was flown into the country by Royal Air Maroc in the
early hours of the day.
The Moroccan airline arrived Lagos from Casablanca at 6am.
View Ebola cases/deaths around world
The victim, one Theophilus Onnakhinon, a Nigerian, was said to have
been flown into the country by the airline, while his younger brother,
Chinedu Eroka, absconded from Sierra Leonean authorities.
As at the time of filing this report, it was not clear why Eroka
absconded from the Sierra Leone.
A source close to the Port Health Services at the airport, who spoke
on condition of anonymity, explained that the passenger had already
been treated for the Ebola Virus Disease and declared cured.
The source said the passenger was assisted into the country by a
Nigerian consular official, Mrs. T. Mohammed.
According to the source, the consular officer accompanied Onnakhinon
into the country in order to avoid stigmatisation by Nigerian health
officials and others at the airport.
On arrival, he was immediately handed over to the Port Health
officials, who immediately isolated and quarantined him.
As of the time of filing this report, Onnakhinon was still being
observed by the Port Health officials.
The source said that the essence of his being quarantined was for the
officials to determine his health status and confirm that he was
indeed free of the disease before being allowed to integrate into the
society.
The source said, "It is true that there was an Ebola scare at the
Lagos airport today, but the fact is that the victim had been cured of
the disease in Sierra Leone before being assisted into Nigeria by our
consular officer in that country.
"Immediately he landed, he was handed over to the port health
authorities who immediately carried out checks on him and isolated him
from other passengers.
"But the truth is that we just want to re-check what has already been
done by the Sierra Leonean authorities. You know, we cannot take
chances again in the country. I can assure you that the situation is
under control."
Wednesday's incident came a week after the World Health Organisation
declared Nigeria Ebola free.
--PUNCH
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