There was pandemonium Friday afternoon at the Immigration office ,Alagbon Close , Lagos, as a Chinese woman fell down and started vomiting.
Passport seekers , immigration officers, visitors ,including Policemen and military personnel took to their heels on sighting the woman.
Many people were injured while other lost their documents as they scampered for safety .
An Immigration officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity as he was not suppose to speak with the press said it was as if death had visited the place as we all ran for safety.
” The lady came to the operations department for some visa issues ,she on mask when she came on Thursday ,but she could not finish with what she came to do .She repeated today( Friday) ,but this time around ,she did not mask her face . As she was being attended to ,she started feeling dizzy ,fell down and started coughing and vomiting .My brother , everybody took to his or her heels.
” The worst of it all was that her relations wanted to take her away ,but our officers prevented them .We were able to kit ourselves and took her to a room .But those who were not courageous enough closed work while so many people who came for one transaction or the other abandoned whatever the came to do.The worst thing is that we have been calling health emergency numbers and they have been promising that they were coming .We are yet to see them ,but we are keeping vigil until they will come.We won’t let her go.
” The woman has been trying to convince us that nothing is wrong with her, but she must be certified free from the virus .We are not saying that she has it ,but with the symptoms we were told ,she is already having some ,so ,we won’t let her go till medical experts clear her .Yes ,we are handing her over to the appropriate office and not to her embassy “.
A visitor , John Madu ,said :” I only came to make enquiry when I saw people running helter skeletal and I joined in the rat race .I was later told that a Chinese woman fell down and started vomiting. My fear is that they said she was also there the previous day. If it she test positive to the virus ,how will the government locate those that she would have had contacts with. We are lucky because people were not as many as they used to be in the office because of the travels ban to certain routes. Before now, people used to in their hundreds,but there were not up 100 people at the scene .The government should do something about the Chinese nationals that are almost everywhere in Lagos ”
As 5 pm that we were filling this report the emergency health workers have not arrive the Immigration office while heavily armed Immigration officers were seriously guiding her.