Ebola Scare in Lagos

There was palpable panic yesterday  at the Lagos international airport when a Nigerian, who had been cured of  the   Ebola virus disease in Sierra Leone arrived    the country.

Theophilus Onnakhinon, arrived at Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in company of his younger brother onboard Royal Air Maroc at 6:00 a.m.

He  was said to have been treated of Ebola virus in Sierra Leone and cured of the disease by the health authorities of that country and released after few weeks in their custody.

The victim, according to information gathered, was accompanied into the country by the Nigeria’s consular official, Mrs T. Mohammed.

According to the source, the consular officer accompanied the victim into the country in order to avoid stigmatisation by the Nigerian health officials and other authorities at the airport.

On arrival in Nigeria, the victim was immediately handed over to the Port Health officials at the Lagos airport who immediately isolated and quarantined him for observation.

Health officials, however, said the victim was quarantined by the Nigerian officials to double-check his health status and confirm that he was free of the disease before being released to the public.

To avoid unnecessary spread of the Ebola virus, the Federal Government has put up several preventive measures which finally nipped it in the bud.

In view of the successful eradication of the disease from the country, the World Health Organization (WHO) has since given Nigeria a clean bill of health.