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COVID-19: Nigerian Diplomat Confronts Chinese Officials Harassing And Maltreating Nigerians In China, Tells Them Act No Longer Acceptable

A visibly angry Cyril, in a video making the rounds online, accused the Chinese officials of targeting Nigerians in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, which began in the country.

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The Consul-General of the Nigerian High Commission in China, Mr Anozie Maduabuchi Cyril, has confronted some Chinese Government officials days after a video of Nigerians being sent out of their apartments in the Asian country went viral on the Internet. 

A visibly angry Cyril, in a video making the rounds online, accused the Chinese officials of targeting Nigerians in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak, which began in the country. 

Complaining about the seizure of the passports of Nigerian nationals in Guangzhou and the continued quarantine of Nigerians, who had not travelled out the area for years, Anozie insisted that no Chinese citizen had been served the same treatment in Nigeria.

He also pointed out that the same act was not meted out to citizens of other countries where Coronavirus had been confirmed. 

According to Cyril, the seizure of the international passports of the Nigerians was an affront on the country and tantamount to its seizure.

Cyril, who was shown in one of the videos angrily collecting the passports from the Chinese officials, contended that the documents were property of the Nigerian Government and China had no right to seize them.

Addressing one senior Chinese official in the video, Cyril said, “In Nigeria, work and every other thing had been shut down by the government. 

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“We didn’t say that only Nigerians should go to work and other places while Chinese nationals must be quarantined. Everybody had been asked to sit at home.

“If you want your policy to work, shut down Guangzhou and let everyone including the Chinese remain indoors for 14 days. If you do that, the issue of discrimination will not be there. 

“But if you are only picking Africans, that is the highest humiliation anyone can get. 

“Why are they seizing Nigerian passports? If you seize Nigerian passports, you are seizing Nigeria as a whole and it is not acceptable. 

“You didn’t communicate to us that you are going to go to all the Nigerian houses and ask people to come out for quarantine.

“If you want to do your policy, shut down the entire city, don’t discriminate.

“In Nigeria, we have a lot of Chinese, I don’t think you have ever received any information that the Government of Nigeria go to their various houses and pick them for quarantine, so why are Africans and indeed Nigerians being targeted in China?

“Nigerians are not criminals, so why are you harassing them? We will continue to protect them.”

In another video seen by our correspondent, Cyril, who looked tensed, could be heard saying “All of you want to kill me”, suggesting that he may have been assaulted for defending Nigerians in China.