Lagos hospital ‘forcefully’ stopped Ebola victim from travelling to Calabar

But for the insistence of the management of First Consultant Medical Centre, Lagos, Mr Patrick Sawyer the Liberian-American who brought the Ebola virus to Nigeria would have forcefully discharged himself and travelled to Calabar, Cross River State, four days before his death.

Also, an official of the Liberian embassy in Nigeria reportedly called the hospital several times, putting pressure on them to discharge Sawyer because he had “an important meeting to attend in Calabar”. “It got to a stage, the official started insulting us. All manner of insult and threatening language,” a senior member of the hospital staff told TheCable, revealing that they wondered if the allowance to be paid to Sawyer for attending the meeting was more important than his health. Sawyer (pictured) would “definitely” have infected more Nigerians had the hospital not insisted on carrying out further checks on him, the source said.

He was initially tested for malaria and HIV, but both were negative. Although he was in pains and “clearly not in good condition”, he told the management of the hospital to let him go to Calabar. “He was a bit restless but we told him we needed to run other tests. It was in the process we discovered he had Ebola,” the source told TheCable.

Sawyer, a consultant with the Liberian ministry of finance, arrived Lagos on July 20 on his way to an ECOWAS event in Calabar when he collapsed and was taken to the hospital. Reports are now suggesting that he knew he had contracted the virus before coming to Nigeria, judging by his “strange conduct” at the Monrovia airport said to have been caught on CCTV. His sister had died from the virus and there are reports that he made contact with her. The sister’s husband had fled his home out of fear of being infected. Sawyer died on July 24 while one of the nurses who attended to him has also died from the virus, with five other persons including a doctor also infected.

He would have made contact with more Nigerians had he travelled to Calabar and the casualty figure would probably have been higher by now.

- The Cable

The local governments where APC is in clear lead included Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Ejigbo, Ifelodun, Osogbo, Olorunda, Boripe, and Ife North.

Others are Irewole, Odo Otin, Iwo, Egbedore, Atakumosa West, Atakumosa East, Oriade, Isokan and Ila Irepodun. The APC is in clear lead also in Orolu, Ede North, Ede South, Obodun, and Ifedayo.

The Local Governments where Omisore had an upper hand included Ife Central, Ife East, Ife South and Odo-Otin, which was still in contention as at press time.

In Osogbo, the Osun State capital, supporters of the APC had begun to celebrate the party’s apparent victory, though the PDP issued a statement alleging that those results, which the APC relied upon to declare itself victorious, were not genuine.

The statement signed by Diran Odeyemi, the Director of Media & Strategy of Omisore’s Campaign Organisations said, “By circulating fake results, the APC intends to prove to the world that the election was rigged even when in reality the collation process was yet to start before its illegal action. The party has also proceeded to direct its supporters to commence celebration in towns and villages.

Even in wards where the APC lost, the supporters followed the script by rolling out drums in celebration of a non-existing victory. This is also part of a ploy to declare the final official results as manipulated in preparation for their usual tribunal battle.

“It is an elaborate plot to steal the People’s mandate through the