The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has raised the alarm that 300 Nigerian businessmen and women who are stranded in Guangzhou, China, face starvation.

The human rights group said that the stranded Nigerian citizens complained they no longer had money to pay for their feeding and hotel accommodation.

The stranded citizens are among the over 2,000 individuals awaiting evacuation from foreign countries. The Federal Government said it was working to put in place isolation centres where they would be quarantined on arrival.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, had also said that hotels in both Abuja and Lagos had declined the request to accommodate the returning Nigerians.

But the CLO’s Executive Director, Ibuchukwu Ezike, in a statement on Tuesday, April 28th, 2020, said his office had been inundated with calls from stranded Nigerians in Guangzhou pleading for immediate repatriation.

Ezike said,

The Nigerians said they are appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to have compassion on them and their families.

They told the CLO that they have no money for their hotel accommodation and feeding.

Meanwhile, the Municipal No.8 People’s Hospital in Guangzhou has released the first Nigerian who was treated for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and cured.

The patient, whose identity was not made public, was discharged at 10.30 am on Tuesday, April 28.

The 51-year-old Nigerian reportedly arrived in Guangzhou on March 15th, 2020 and tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) with symptoms like fever, cough and choking. He was subsequently admitted to an isolation hospital for treatment on March 28th, 2020.

The Press Secretary, Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Sun Saixiong, said the patient had returned negative for coronavirus.

Saixiong said,

The patient identified as Mr. K is now in good health after a comprehensive treatment.

Dr. Zhang Jian of Zone 13, Municipal No.8 Hospital said the re-examination of lung tomography scan indicates that his condition has improved earlier than expected. Thus, the isolation was lifted today (Tuesday) and he was discharged.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.