Razaq Lawal, head of
the Nigerian consulate in Guangzhou, Guangdong province of China, has tackled
Chinese officials for seizing the passports of some Nigerians in the country.
In a trending video,
Lawal was seen addressing a Chinese official he referred to as “director”. He
accused the country of also discriminating against Nigerians by quarantining
them illegally.
According to him,
Nigerians who travelled to China were being made to undergo another round of 14
days quarantine after testing negative for coronavirus.
“COVID-19 started in
Wuhan, China. When Chinese travelled to Nigeria that time, Nigeria didn’t
quarantine them. These are the people that are living in China, they are not
business men. That is what I’m telling you when you say money or life. They are
here,” Lawal said.
“All the people that
came from Nigeria for business, they are entitled to go for 14 days quarantine
in line with what you sent to us as your policy. We agree with that.
“All these people,
when they finish the 14 days quarantine, they give them a paper of release. Why
are they still giving them another 14 days quarantine again? It is not
acceptable. The first 14 days is attestable by us, another 14 days, you didn’t
communicate with us. They have tested negative and they have given them the
paper. Why are they doing another 14 days?”
Lawal, who was seen
retrieving the seized passports of some Nigerians, further protested the
seizure.
He likened it to
“seizing Nigeria as a whole”, adding that it is unacceptable.
Citing Nigeria as an
example, Lawal told the Chinese official that if the country wanted to
quarantine people, it should not aim it at the citizens of a particular country
but order a total lockdown.
“This passport
belongs to the federal government of Nigeria. In line with international
practice, no country has the right to seize the international passport of
another country. I just withdrew it from them, they seized it. Why are they
seizing Nigerian passports? It does not belong to China. If you seize Nigeria
passport, it’s like you’re seizing Nigeria as a whole. It is not acceptable,”
he said.
“You didn’t
communicate to us that you’re going to go to all the Nigerian houses, ask them
to come out and quarantine them. If you want to do your policy of 14 days, shut
down everybody, don’t discriminate. Everybody should sit at home, including
Chinese and you as a director. That is exactly what Nigeria did. We didn’t say
only Nigerians should go to work while the Chinese are quarantined. No!”
Watch the video
below:
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