■ For defending husband
Decontee Sawyer, widow of the late Liberian-American, Patrick Sawyer who imported the deadly Ebola virus into Nigeria has come under scathing criticisms from Nigerians for defending her late hus­band’s mission in Nigeria at a time he was said to have been placed under medical surveillance by authorities in Liberia for showing symptoms of the virus.
Initial reports about the Liberian’s mission in Nigeria had claimed that the late Sawyer flew into Nigeria on July 20, 2014 with intention of participating in an ECOWAS event that held in Calabar. However in a swift defense his widow, was reported by TMZ, a Liberian magazine, to have said her late husband came to Nigeria for proper medical attention as he didn’t have trust in Liberia’s healthcare system.
The magazine credited Sawyer’s widow to have said, “I’ve read other reports in other papers (not the New York Times) about Patrick’s ‘recklessness.’ I get where they’re coming from, and they certainly have the right to feel the way they do. However, as Patrick’s widow, I would like to shed some light on this from another perspective. One that only I, his wife, would know,” she wrote.
“I knew Patrick better than anybody else (including him). He had told me many times in the past how much he didn’t trust the Li­berian healthcare system. He would tell me about how a person would get checked in for one thing, and get misdiagnosed and get the wrong treatment as a result. On top of that, Patrick was a clean freak, and told me how filthy a lot of the hospitals were.
“He didn’t tell me this, but I know in my heart of hearts that Patrick was determined to get to Nigeria by all means because he felt that Nigeria would be a place of refuge. He had expressed to me so many times in the past, how passionately he felt about helping to be a part of strengthening Liberia’s healthcare system, because he knew it wasn’t there yet, and he wouldn’t want to take a chance with his life because a lot of people depended on him- Patrick had a passion for life, and he wouldn’t have wanted it to end this way. So, I bet the only thing that he was thinking was, ‘if only I could get to Nigeria, a way more developed country than Liberia, I would be able to get some help.’ How ironic!”
Ostensibly piqued by the ravaging effect of Ebola virus in the country, many Nige­rians have taken to social media to express their anger against the defense put forward by Sawyer’s widow. AFacebook user, Engineer Ogbodo Joy, called on Sawyer’s widow to go for an Ebola test rather than try to defend her late husband whom he dubbed Ebola terrorist. “The wife of the Ebola terrorist should just have her mouth shut, instead of making a whole lot of noise. Hope she has gone for her own treatment of the disease, or is she waiting to see a country where she would go and spread the virus as her husband did or is she waiting for our na­tion to get over the disease that her husband infested us with, before she comes over to Nigeria and infect us with her own disease, since Nigeria has become their abode where they can always come over to spread the deadly disease. Nigeria has now become the best nation for every medical attention,” he said cynically.
In another reaction, Rabiu Muhammed asked rather rhetorically, “why didn’t your husband travel to America for quality health care service,” adding, “Good health care my foot! Pure terrorist, now he will sure get the good health care he needs by taking along all those he has infected and killed. Don’t know how such a callous soul will find rest. He is absolutely wicked, what stopped him from telling every one that he has Ebola or was he dumb on arrival. Wondering if he was even paid by those evil Boko Haram,”
Nonso Ekpunobi expressed doubt over Sawyer’s widow’s defence saying: “May the good Lord forgive your husband for delib­erately putting the lives of over 140 million people into such risk. You should immedi­ately apologize to the President you insulted while offering your lame and unintelligent excuses.”
Amina Dauda had no kind word for the bereaved widow either: “She works as a radio host in New York and she didn’t advise her hubby to seek good medical help in US. She should tell her stupid cooked up story to the dead. The money they paid them for this dastardly act, will cause their downfall,”
“Arrant nonsense, rubbish!” Stella-Maris Obianiberi Imeri thundered in her Facebook post. “Patrick Sawyer was an American citizen, why didn’t he head for America to get the best medical care?
Toye Olori, had a similar question for Mrs. Sawyer, “If he knew he had such a disease and wanted help, is the U.S, where the wife works and stays not the best place to go seek medical attention? Why head to Nigeria where we also complain of inade­quate health facilities. Did he not know that health workers in Nigeria were on strike and Nigerians were losing their lives daily due to lack of treatment? The woman should just shut up. He was used by the devil to bring problems on an already troubled nation period. God help us,” Olori noted.
For Abdul Kolawole, the late Sawyer’s visit to Nigeria when he was aware of having contracted the virus, is indefensible, “Your husband’s action is indefensible. He was avoiding contact with fellow Liberians in Monrovia, but he allowed unsuspecting Nigerians to have unrestrained access to him on arrival in Nigeria and didn’t disclose to care-givers at the hospital he was rushed to in Lagos that he had Ebola. He didn’t disclose his Ebola status at the airport to seek help, which you claimed he desperately wanted. Rather he claimed to be suffering from malaria and it was after two tests on him for malaria had returned negative that he was suspected to be a carrier of Ebola. Even after being told about this suspicion, he went into some kind of rage, removed his drip, spilled some blood and got many infected. What can be more wicked and crazy than this behavior? With your defense, Mrs. Sawyer, you are also an accomplice,” Kolawole noted.