Ebola: Diplomat who infected Port Harcourt doctor arrested

Olubukun Koye, the staff of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, who escaped from the isolation centre in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt for a private medical attention that claimed the life of the doctor, would be prosecuted if information coming from Health authorities is anything to go by.

Koye, according to the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu is currently in government custody in Lagos.

Koye recovered after the treatment but his action has led to the death of two persons including Iyke Enemuo, the doctor who treated him, and endangers hundreds more. Mr. Enemuo’s wife, also a doctor, is currently down with the deadly virus.

The ECOWAS diplomat, Mr. Koye, was one of the primary contacts of the index Ebola case in Nigeria—the Liberian-American man, Patrick Sawyer, who brought the virus to Nigeria.

Chukwu, said Mr. Koye travelled to Port Harcourt after Mr. Sawyer’s death and that the diplomat knew he might have been infected by Mr. Sawyer.

Speaking on Wedneday, Chukwu said: “He is part of the 18 cases that have been confirmed in Nigeria. He is with us in Lagos, not in isolation because he is not sick anymore but because of his aberrant behaviour. We needed to be sure that there is nothing further that can prove risky to society,” Mr. Chukwu said Wednesday at a press conference.

The minister said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been contacted as the matter involves a diplomat. He said a punitive response from the government is hampered by Nigeria’s outdated quarantine laws inherited from the colonial days.

The National Assembly is working on updating the law, he added.
“We are looking at three possible areas, one we are asking the ministry of foreign affairs since he is working for a diplomatic mission, to advise us. Secondly, we also need to look at our laws. What our quarantine law provides is too old, it came from the colonial period and I do know that in the National Assembly, there are attempts currently to see how to amend that law and make it to be up-to- date,” he said.

 “We also have the psycho-social team, which is part of the management team for this Ebola virus disease. You know sometimes we assume everyone is normal so we are looking at other aspects,” he said. “Were there any problems with this man because at the time he did it Patrick Sawyer was dead so he knew the dangers and so we need to affirm a decision but he’s still with us” he said.”

Read "Why Ebola could spread wider across Port Harcourt and beyond" to see the extent of damage he had caused