The Federal Government on Tuesday blamed poor communication
between the Chinese authorities and African consulates in Guangzhou, China, for
the maltreatment of Nigerians in China.
Speaking during a press briefing in Abuja in the company of
the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Dr Zhou Pingjian, the Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, said lack of communication made a lot of Nigerians
and Africans misunderstand what was happening in China.
According to him, if there was effective communication,
African consulates would have assisted the Chinese authorities in the action it
was taking.
Onyeama said the viral video in circulation which showed the
maltreatment of some Nigerians was not ‘entirely true.
He explained that the Chinese authorities were trying to
contain some Africans including a Nigerian restaurant owner, who came into
China and tested positive for the virus.
“And so, automatically demanded and insisted that they all
be quarantined, with nobody allowed to come out in 14 days and if anybody came
out from that quarantine, that they should not be allowed in if it was a hotel,
back into that hotel or that residence.
“So, they put in very, very strict measures to try to
contain this outbreak which to them at that time, clearly seemed to have been
within that community. And so, they put in place these very strict measures.
“Now, it was misinterpreted, it appeared, by some of the
Nigerians and Africans who could not understand why it seemed to be selective
and targeting only themselves.
Onyeama further stated after seeing the new video which had
a different narrative, he immediately alerted the Nigerian Embassy and
officials in Guangzhou at the consulate, particularly the acting
consul-general.
He added that the consulate confirmed that the narrative was
true, that the Chinese authorities were trying to quarantine a set of Africans
who came into China and tested positive.
“But what our officials in China made clear was that the
communication could and should have been better.
”If the authorities in Guangzhou had informed the African
Consulates in Guangzhou that this was the situation and this was the measures
they were putting in place, it could have become a joint effort.
“That mutual suspicion would not be there. That was not done
and it led to counter-narrative and it exacerbated the situation,”NAN quoted
him as saying.
Onyeama reiterates that Nigeria and Chinese authorities were
working closely to resolve the issue.
He stressed that the Nigerian Government took very
seriously, the issue of the human rights and wellbeing of Nigerians anywhere
and everywhere in the world adding that wherever there might be any issues in
that regard, the Nigerian Government considered it an absolute obligation to
intervene to ensure the rights and dignity of Nigerians are protected anywhere
in the world.
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