Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola has disclosed that the 15-man team of Chinese medics who arrived Nigeria on April 8 are still in the country despite the expiration of their visa
Aregbesola made this known at the daily briefing of Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 which held in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Interior Minister in his disclosure stated that the Chinese medics who were issued a 30-day visa are unable to return to China due to the ban placed on air travel.
He also said China Civil and Engineering Construction (CCECC) invited the medics to offer them support in combating the virus
Minister Aregbesola said: “Indeed 15 Chinese nationals came into Nigeria on the 8th of April,” he said.
“From everything we have heard and said, they were here on the bill of CCECC, a Chinese company working in Nigeria, doing some work for us in several places. And in conjunction with some Nigerian companies, they agreed to support us with efforts to respond to the pandemic.
“At Idu, they participated in retrofitting and equipping the isolation centre there. They equally worked on the dome project that was handled by the NNPC consortium in conjunction with THISDAY. Those are the location in which they came to work.
“Fifteen of them came in on April 8. They came on a 30-day visa issued in Beijing but they are still here.
“They are still here not because they have not completed their job but because there is a restriction on travels in Nigeria occasioned by the COVID-19 protocols.”
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