A woman reportedly diagnosed with Ebola virus disease in Nigeria has been evacuated from the country aboard a medical air ambulance, according to a report by ARISE News.
The evacuation reportedly took place early Monday morning through the private jet wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.
According to ARISE News, the patient, identified in the report as the wife of a Swiss diplomat in Nigeria, was scheduled to be flown out of the country at about 6:00 a.m. aboard a medical evacuation aircraft that was already on standby at the airport.
The news organisation said its crew, deployed to the General Aviation Terminal, observed a convoy of three vehicles arriving from the Abuja city centre. The convoy reportedly included diplomatic vehicles and a vehicle belonging to an international agency before proceeding into the airport’s private jet section.
Airport officials subsequently cordoned off the private wing of the facility. However, ARISE News reported that it obtained video footage showing a medical evacuation aircraft and its crew preparing to transport the patient.
The unusual security arrangements and specialised medical evacuation reportedly raised suspicions that the passenger was the country’s Ebola index case.
A source quoted by ARISE News further claimed that the Federal Government intended to announce the evacuation after the aircraft had taken off and left Nigerian airspace.
As of the time of the report, no official government confirmation of the patient’s identity, diagnosis or evacuation had been cited. The claims therefore remain unverified and should be treated as a developing story pending confirmation from the relevant health authorities.
