3 Nigerian Students 'Politely' Banned From South Korean Conference

Invitations to three Nigerian students to attend an international conference has been "politely withdrawn" by a university in South Korea over Ebola fears.

The students were scheduled to attend the World Congress of Global Partnership for Young Women from Monday, August 4 to August 15 at the Duksung Women's University in the S. Korean capital, Seoul.

The university however says it has "politely withdrawn" the invitation over fears that the Ebola virus may spread to the country.

According to some reports, over 15,000 people signed an online petition against the "dangerous" invitations over the weekend.

Some of them, including bloggers, called for the cancellation of the conference which is hosted in conjunction with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women).

But the university's authorities says it will go on with the conference which twenty-eight (28) students from Africa are expected to attend.

"Since it is a cooperative event with the UN Women, we cannot cancel the invitations of all students from Africa or the whole conference," an official from the university said in an report.

It however stated that plans are in place to deal with the issue properly.

"We are in talks with Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about how to deal with the potential problem," source added.

Ebola virus has a 90% mortality rate and at least 729 people have died already.

Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, who died on the 25th of July at a Lagos hospital, is the only recorded Ebola death in Nigeria.