Coronavirus: House of Reps decides not to Evacuate Nigerians in China

Looks like Nigerians in China will have to find a way to stay safe, as the House of Representatives has reportedly decided against evacuating them.

While the death toll in China continues to increase, and other countries are evacuating their citizens, Nigerian legislators have said no to evacuation plans, The Cable reports.

A motion titled “Urgent need to evacuate stranded Nigerians living in China and quarantine them upon arrival,” was brought before the house by Benjamin Kalu of Abia State, and it was unanimously rejected.

Some lawmakers reportedly said Nigerians aren’t stranded, like the motion title suggests, and they rejected it. Nicholas Ossai from Delta State said:

China has better facilities than us to handle the virus.

House Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, urged the lawmakers to listen to the arguments before reaching a decision. He said:

I think we can kill two birds with one stone, there are many members here, and I can point to chairman, foreign affairs (committee), has children in China.

Nobody wants to bring people here to infect the larger populace. I think we should have a candid opinion, hear his motion. Don’t make your mind up based on title, hear what the motion is, hear the argument, and then we can kill it, if we are not satisfied.

After listening to the arguments, though, the lawmakers, again, rejected it.