I was discussing with some of my friends on a statement credited to GEJ where he was quoted to have said patrick sawyer deserve to rot in hell for travelling to nigeria with the ebola virus.some of my friends were like that GEJ was too harsh on him! But in my own personal view after going through this write on how he travelled to nigeria was that patrick sawyer is wicked heartless and deserve to rot in HELL as GEJ rightly stated. Fellow nairalanders what are your views on patrick sawyer. The moderator should move this to front page for nigerians to know the true genesis of the EBOLA virus into our dear country NIGERIA

Patrick Sawyer’s Windy Journey to Nigeria
As a high-spirited people, life has always been
on the move for most Nigerians. But that
mobility has been limited by the deadly Ebola
virus. The death of a Liberian Ebola victim,
Patrick Sawyer, in a Lagos hospital has opened
up a floodgate of Ebola cases in the country.
Adeola Akinremi writes on the journey of one
man into Africa’s most populous country,
exactly 23 days after he arrived on the soil of
Nigeria with the virus
It’s a mild-weathered day in Monrovia, the Liberian
capital. The weeping and wailing of those losing
loved ones can be heard from a distance. True, there
are no petals in Monrovia. Its bloom withers with a
ravaging virus.
Inside his home in Monrovia, Patrick Sawyer, 40,
looks into the mirror for a conviction. With his flight
ticket in his hand, he must travel to Nigeria for an
Economic Community of West African State
(ECOWAS) duty.
But for the umpteenth time, the memory of his late
sister flashes through his mind. He shrugs it off.
In a moment, he moves out of his base for a voyage
to Nigeria. He carries the Ebola virus with him. The
only reason for the death of his sister, just a few days
earlier.
As the car carrying him rolls along the weak-surface
airport road, his mind moves away from Monrovia.
At the Spriggs Payne Airport in Monrovia, Sawyer is
under the prying eye of the Closed Circuit Television
(CCTV), but he’s unaware.
His strange behaviour and frequent pacing up and
down is making him a centre of attraction for the
security camera operator. Sawyer is spending the
time waiting for Asky Airline that will fly him to
Nigeria with a layover in Togo. With the virus under
his cloaks, he chose to suffer in silence.
“His strange behaviour and frequent movement up
and down as he eagerly awaits his Asky flight had
prompted the security camera operator to focus on
him. In the video, Patrick could be seen avoiding
physical contacts with airport employees and other
passengers during the check in process,” says The
New Dawn, a national newspaper in Monrovia.
A wide-eyed young man with a chubby cheek, it’s
hard to figure out that Sawyer is sick, except that his
sister died of Ebola virus earlier and the news of his
contact with his sister is everywhere. The bloodstain
on his cloth the day his sister died blew the lid open,
but Sawyer is pretending that he’s free of the deadly
Ebola virus.
Now, the Airport video footage shows Sawyer lying
flat on his stomach on the floor in the corridor of the
airport with a sign of excruciating pain.
He frequently prevents people from touching him as
well. Yes, he snubs an Immigration officer who wants
a handshake as he walks unto the boarding gate.
Now aboard Asky aircraft to Nigeria, Sawyer is feeling
cool with himself. At least he’s no more in the
troubled zone of Monrovia. He escapes being
quarantined. But the virus is moving with him.
Without a doubt, Sawyer is terribly sick where he’s
seated aboard the Asky aircraft, but he’s living in
denial. His vomit hours before he leaves Monrovia
has become a case in reference.
FrontPage Africa, another Liberian newspaper,
reports that Sawyer, who is believed to have been
infected by his sister who died of Ebola told its
reporter soon before he travelled to Nigeria that he
had gone in search of his sister's husband who ran
away after she tested positive for Ebola.The
newspaper says Sawyer vomited a few times among
his friends in Liberia just before heading to the
airport and also on the plane.
In Nigeria, Sawyer steps off the airplane at Murtala
Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and
slumps. The Ebola virus is having a grip on him with
embarrassment.
Of course, credulous Nigerians at the airport think it’s
a mere fatigue, so they rush to help him up. That
way, he passes the virus into the country.
The journey to discovery will start in a jiffy. He’s to
be taken to the First Consultants Hospital in
Obalende area of Lagos. First Consultants is for the
high-class, its services are first-class too.
On the way there, Sawyer sufficiently passes the
virus into the car conveying him with his bodily
fluids. The driver and the ECOWAS support staff
accompanying him are not spared too.
The story rings true at the hospital, but he denies
three times like Simon Peter’s denial of truth about
his relationship with Jesus Christ. He’s violent and
becoming abusive to scare off the health workers.
At this time, the doctor and nurse who are having the
first contact with Sawyer catch the bug. They are now
living with the virus without an idea.
“Looking to get to the bottom of Sawyer’s strange
ailment on the Asky Airline flight, which Sawyer
transferred on in Togo, hospital officials say, he was
tested for both malaria and HIV AIDS. However, when
both tests came back negative, he was then asked
whether he had made contact with any person with
the Ebola Virus, to which Sawyer denied. Sawyer’s
sister, Princess had died of the deadly virus on
Monday, July 7, 2014 at the Catholic Hospital in
Monrovia,” reports Frontpage Africa.
At around 6pm on July 25, Sawyer died and Nigeria
records its index case in a virus that is alien to the
country. And a few days later the nurse who treated
Sawyer died too. Now the government says there are
over 100 cases in the country with a fatality rate of
28.9 per cent.
Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf cited
indiscipline and disrespect as a key reason Sawyer
contracted the Ebola virus. She says his failure to
heed medical advice put the lives of other residents
across the nation’s border at risk.
But for his death, Sawyer has planned to visit the
United States after touching down in Nigeria. He’s in
the mood for celebration. It’s August and two of his
girls would be celebrating their birthdays.
“Patrick was coming here. What if he still wasn't
displaying symptoms yet and came. He could have
brought Ebola here. Someone else could bring Ebola
here,” says Decontee Sawyer, his wife of six years.
Distressed Decontee in an interview with Pioneer
Press says she’s sharing her husband's fate so that
the public can understand how quickly the virus can
spread.
Sawyer, who worked for the Liberian Finance
Ministry, married his wife Decontee in December
2008, in Coon Rapids.
According to reports, the couple, who both hold US
citizenship, are originally from Liberia.
They are part of the large Liberian community in
Minnesota, United States, who moved there in the
aftermath of Liberia’s two civil wars in the 1980s and
late 1990s.
Sadly, Sawyer is gone, with his ashes given back to
his country, but Nigerians are battling with the
outbreak and rumours cure.
At first, it was about kolanut as a cure, and then the
rhythm changed to salt bath. None of that will cure
Ebola, experts say.
Nigeria’s Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebushi Chukwu
calls it “wicked lie,” and his counterpart at the
Ministry of Information, Labaran Maku, says those
spreading such bad rumour should be careful
because the laws are there to catch up with them.
“There is no known cure. Anyone infected with this
disease should stay within the quarantine area.” he
adds.
Now, those who experiment with salt as a
fortification against Ebola virus in Jos, Plateau State
are hospitalised. Reports say they took the salt in
excess and later came down with various ailments.
Health experts warn that people should be more
careful, wash their hands with soap or use sanitiser
constantly, because it’s unclear how far the virus has
spread in the country from the index case of Sawyer.
They say religious centres must be wary of the virus,
because of the way people mingle there freely.
Clearly, Ebola virus is on the loose in Nigeria through
contact with just one man who escaped quarantine.
It is the windy journey of Patrick Sawyer.
Ebola Virus Facts
Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola
haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in
humans. It is a rare but deadly virus that causes
bleeding inside and outside the body.
As the virus spreads through the body, it damages
the immune system and organs. Ultimately, it causes
levels of blood-clotting cells to drop. This leads to
severe, uncontrollable bleeding.
It spreads to people by contact with the skin or bodily
fluids of an infected animal, like a monkey, chimp, or
fruit bat. Then it moves from person to person the
same way. Those who care for a sick person or bury
someone who has died from the disease often get it.
Other ways to get Ebola include touching
contaminated needles or surfaces.
You can’t get Ebola from air, water, or food. A person
who has Ebola but has no symptoms can’t spread the
disease, either.
Early on, Ebola can feel like the flu or other illnesses.
Symptoms show up 2 to 21 days after infection and
usually include: High fever, headache, Joint and
muscle aches, Sore throat, weakness, stomach pain,
lack of appetite among others.
As the disease gets worse, it causes bleeding inside
the body, as well as from the eyes, ears, and nose.
Some people will vomit or cough up blood, have
bloody diarrhoea, and get a rash.
The EVD outbreaks have a case fatality rate of up to
90 per cent. Currently EVD outbreaks have been
recorded in Nigeria, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
There have been pockets of suspected cases in Saudi
Arabia, United States and Spain.
Ebola Virus Myth
It is not true that Ebola virus disease can be cured
with Kola nut or prevented through bath salt. There is
no known cure for the virus and it’s only preventable
through regular hand washing with soap and the use
of sanitiser. No licensed specific treatment or vaccine
is available for use in people or animals. It is
important to report a case immediately it occurs to
avoid its spread and contact with such a person
should be avoided. Ebola is not an airborne disease.
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