Coronavirus: Reps reject move to evacuate Nigerians in China

The house of representatives has rejected a motion seeking to evacuate and quarantine Nigerians living in China over the outbreak of coronavirus.

The lower legislative chamber rejected the motion sponsored by Benjamin Kalu from Abia state during Tuesday’s plenary session.

The motion titled: “Urgent need to evacuate stranded Nigerians living in China and quarantine them upon arrival” was unanimously rejected even before the debate started.

At least 60 Nigerians are living in Wuhan, the town that first recorded the outbreak.

As of Monday, 17,205 people have been infected by the virus globally while the death toll in China had reached 358.

The federal lawmakers argued that evacuating Nigerians may not be needed at this point as “the necessary things have been done.”

Femi Gbajajabiamila, speaker of the house, appealed to the members to allow the motion to be read after which the lawmakers will “know what to do.”

“The motion is to evacuate and quarantine Nigerians who are stranded in China. I believe the necessary things have been done. But if it has not, let us hear him. We will know what to do,” he said.

When the motion was put to voice vote, most of the lawmakers voted against it.

Some of the lawmakers argued that the Nigerians are not stranded as the motion stated, and that some of them did not want to return, as claimed by the federal government.

Nicholas Ossai from Delta state said: “China has better facilities than us to handle the virus.”

Gbajabiamila urged the lawmakers to consider the motion and the arguments raised before rejecting it.

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.”

A second vote on the motion ended like the first as most lawmakers again voted against it.

The lawmakers’ action comes 24 hours after TheCable reported that some Nigerians stranded as a result of the outbreak appealed to the federal government to evacuate them immediately.