by S’ola Filani

A mild drama occurred at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Wednesday when a suspected Ebola patient, one Theophilus Onnakhinon, a Nigerian, was flown into the country by Royal Air Maroc which arrived Lagos from Casablanca at 6 am.

Passengers panicked and fled for dear life when the status of the victim was announced.

Confirming the incident, a source close to the Port Health Services at the airport, who spoke to Punch, explained that the passenger had already been treated for the Ebola Virus Disease and declared cured.

““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. He was assisted into the country by a Nigerian consular official, Mrs. T. Mohammed who accompanied him into the country in order to avoid stigmatisation by Nigerian health officials and others at the airport.”

Wednesday’s incident came just over a week after the World Health Organisation declared Nigeria Ebola free.

Sola