Barely hours after Nigeria’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama revealed he had a meeting with the Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Zhou Pingjian on the way Nigerians are being maltreated in China, the Speaker of the House of Representative, Femi Gbajabiamila is blowing hot on the issue.
Gbajabiamila who had a meeting with ambassador Pingjian on Friday, April 10, revealed that the country would not tolerate the abuse of its citizens.
Gbajabiamila during his meeting reportedly confronted Pingjian with a protest video in which a Nigerian was seen challenging Chinese officials over the maltreatment. He also demanded that Chinese authorities address the issues.
In some of the videos which have gone viral, some Nigerian citizens were protesting against being forced into another 14-day quarantine after the initial 14- day they spent for the same purpose over the COVID-19 pandemic in China.
Speaking on the issue, the speaker said:
“If the diplomatic relationships between our two countries are for the mutual benefits of our citizens, then there must be respect for our citizens, and we should not compromise it.
“As a government, we will not allow Chinese or other nationals to be maltreated just as we will not allow Nigerians to be maltreated in other countries.
“The way you treat your citizens, we expect that’s how you’ll treat others. We will not tolerate our citizens breaking your laws but the crime of one citizen cannot be used to stigmatize the whole country.
“It appears that’s what happened in this case. You can’t use one brush to smear the whole wall. Whatever the reason, it cannot be used and taken out on the entire community in China”.
Promising to take it up with the home government even though he has not been officially informed, Pingjian said:
“We take our relationship with Nigeria very seriously. Until we receive a full report from back home, I cannot act but I can assure you it is not a policy issue. We treat everyone equally but during the implementation of the COVID-19 measures in China, it is possible for some incidents; all I do is to take it back home, today I will.”
Reacting to Pingjian, Gbajabiamila stated that he would be expecting feedback from Chinese authorities, adding that itis better to nip the situation in the bud, so that it doesn’t escalate to another level.
“So, by Tuesday, if you have the information to give us; if steps have been taken, let’s talk about it and let’s see the way forward,” Gbajabiamila said.
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