HUNT FOR EBOLA CARRIERS: Police raid Lagos hotels, arrest 39 foreigners

Men of the Nigerian Police from the Area A Command, Lion Building, Ikoyi, Lagos State, and operatives of the Nigerian Immigration Service, on Friday raided one hotel and a guest house on the Lagos Island, arresting 39 foreign nationals over the Ebola Virus Disease scare.


The foreigners identified as 35 from the Democratic Republic of Congo and four Senegalese, were were said to be co-habiting in one Benin Hotel and one other guest house both situated on Atere street on Lagos Island.

According to security operatives, the raid of the two hotels was motivated by reports from residents of the area who expressed concern that activities of the foreigners, swarming the area, could lead to the spread of the Ebola virus.

It was gathered that the Commander of Area A Police Command, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Imohimi Edgal contacted the officials of the NIS and some health workers after the tip-off from the residents and the two hotels were raided.

The police said it has placed all the hotels in the area under close surveillance and charged the residents to promptly report any suspicious persons or activities to the police.

A police source said the immigration officials would determine if the suspects are legally residing in the country while the health officials would determine their health status to know if they actually have the dreaded disease or not.

Explaining what led to the raid, a resident of the area, Mr. Femi Ajasa, said they became suspicious and alerted the police following the mass movements of the foreigners into the hotels since the outbreak of the Ebola virus.

Ajasa said the residents needed to inform the police following their suspicion that some persons were receiving treatment in the hotel rooms.


“We are particularly concerned about our safety following the revelation of the government that it was a foreigner, Patrick Sawyer, that imported the disease to Nigeria. A vigilant resident alerted the community on Friday that he suspected some new faces entering the two hotels mostly patronised by foreigners, hence we alerted the relevant authorities,” he said.

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