How Ebola Infected Diplomat Escaped Surviellance To Travel To Port Harcourt

Sampson Parker

In revealing the iden­tity of the ECOWAS staff who was treated by Dr Enemuo as Mr. Olu-ibukun Koye, see picture HERE, the commissioner for health in Rivers State noted that he was one of those who received the Liberian-American, Pat­rick Sawyer in Lagos.

Koye Olu-Ibukun was said to have sneaked out of Lagos to Port Harcourt, with the help of a lady simply identified as Lillian for treatment.

“The patient had received the late Dr. Patrick Sawyer in Lagos. Upon developing the symptom confided in a female colleague, called Lillian, who contacted the late Dr. Enemuo. It was after contact was established with Dr. Enemuo that Olu-Ibikun Koye flew to Port Harcourt to see Dr. Enemuo”.

The Commissioner said the Diplomat who escaped from a quarantine centre in Lagos sneaked into a hotel, Mandate Gardens in Rumuokoro area of the state and also switched off his phones to evade arrest.


Vanguard reports that the late Dr Enemuo who runs Sam Steel clinic in the same Rumuokoro area had to be going to treat the patient at the hotel.

“From what we have gathered so far, Dr. Enemuo, knowing full well that Koye was positive of the Ebola virus took some measure of precaution to protect himself while treating Koye. Knowing the enormity of what he was doing, Dr. Enemuo upon Koye’s departure for Lagos poured bleach all over the room that Koye slept in order to sanitise the place”.

“Upon developing the Ebola symptom, Dr. Enemuo approached one of our colleagues for treatment at Green Heart Hospital, along Evboh Road, in G.R.A. Dr. Enemuo did not tell the doctor that was treating him the truth. He merely told him that he had fever. He lied. He did not tell the doctor that was treating him his full story”.

But the doctor, a nice and conscientious professional, suspected that Dr. Enemuo was either hiding something or was suffering from a strange ailment because he proved negative to malaria, fever and typhoid fever. To be sure of what he was doing, he spoke to other very experienced doctors about the strange case he was handling in his hospital.”

“He even invited some of his colleagues to come over to his hospital to study Dr. Enemuo’s medical history. Of course, the news of the Ebola virus was everywhere, so, they were afraid to go. None of them showed up at the hospital where Dr. Enemuo was being treated. His condition continued to deteriorate and he eventually died and his body was taken to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital.

Enemuo must have got infected in the process of treating the diplomat, and subsequently died at the Good Heart Hospital on Friday, August 22, 2014 in Port Harcourt.

Post-humous testing was what confirmed to the doctors that he had died of Ebola. Unfortunately his wife has also presented symptoms of the disease and she has been quarantined and undergoing treatment. The couple’s 3 month old baby is currently well and negative, but is being monitored.

Koye Olu-Ibukun remains alive and well and is reported to have returned to Lagos.

More than 100 people have been placed under observation due to either primary or secondary contact with the victim.