Chinese nationals hired by former Governor of Imo State Emeka Ihiedioha to execute road projects have left the sites for fear of being quarantined, our investigation revealed.
They have been off the road since the index case of the Italian who entered Nigeria from Milan, Italy for a brief business trip tested positive in Lagos.
The Chinese nationals working for an engineering firm(name withheld) for past three weeks left the site and have not been seen anywhere in the state.
It gathered that they left the state when the news broke out that some workers were being quarantined in Ogun State.
Some of the workers interviewed said that they have not seen the Chinese who were supervising the project at the sites.
A Nigerian worker, who pleaded not be mentioned, said that the Chinese were no longer coming to site unlike before when they were always around to supervise the road construction work.
Some of the road contract awarded to Chinese firms to execute include the Ihiagwa- Nekede Polytechnic Road, Owerri-Aba and Akachi roads, among others.
But the nationals deserted the sites when the news of the coronavirus went viral.
Meanwhile, some Imo indigenes have expressed worries about the presence of the Chinese workers in the state.
They demanded the state government should quarantine the workers to safeguard the citizens from the deadly virus.
Nze Paul Osuji appealed to the State Government to do something about the presence of the Chinese company in the state to ensure that the Chinese nationals and the Nigerian workers are free from the disease.
However, the State Government has assured it was monitoring the situation closely.
The Director of Imo State Public Health, Ministry of Health, Dr. Austin Okeji, said that the duty of the government was to monitor the point of entry of other nationals into the state.
He said that surveillance has been put in place to ensure that contacts were monitored using the thermometer to test those coming into the state at designated entry points.
However, he advised citizens to adopt good hygiene practices especially hand washing using alcohol-based sanitizers to disinfect themselves.
He said that people should be calm and go about their business without been afraid.
THE NATION
