Reps tackle health minister, demand whereabouts of missing Chinese

The House of Representatives has waded into the controversies trailing the whereabouts of the missing Chinese medical team who came into the country few weeks back with the intention of helping the country to tackle spread of COVID-19.

It would be recalled that the 15-member team of Chinese medical personnel arrived in the country on April 8 “to share their experiences in fighting the COVID-19”.

An exasperated minister of health, Osagie Ehanire, had last week said he does not know the whereabouts of the Chinese doctors and technicians.

The shocking statement by Ehanire at the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the containment of the Covid -19 in Abuja came one month after the controversial arrival of the Chinese medical team.

He had claimed that the medical personnel “are not guests of the federal government but CCECC, a construction company”.

However, at its sitting on Wednesday, the House of Representatives asked the Minister to provide the House with the details of the whereabouts of the Chinese medical team in Nigeria.

The lower chamber resolved that the Minister should give a detailed status of the supposed Chinese medical team to the Speaker as agreed during their meetings on April 7, 2020

The House also mandated its committees on Interior, Health Care Services, National Intelligence and Foreign Affairs to investigate the Chinese team, their whereabouts and who they really are.

This decision was sequel to a motion of urgent pubic importance moved by Shehu Koko on Tuesday during plenary.

Mr. Shehu in his motion said that the Minister is giving contradictory statements on the status of the Chinese doctors

Adding that “Following concerns raised by Nigerian, it is incumbent on our part to investigate there true situation of this Chinese doctors.”