Authorities at the German hospital, Horst Schmidt Klinik, have banned visitors from seeing their VIP patient, the Nigerian First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.

The action, action to reports, is aimed “to quicken the recovery of the First Lady,” according to the Lagos-based Vanguard newspaper. The paper reports that Horst Schmidt Klinik officials “yesterday, barred visitors and some top Nigerian officials, who went to see her from, doing so.”

“An official of the hospital said that some top Nigerian officials, including diplomats were barred from seeing Mrs. Jonathan to enable her have deserved rest to quicken her recovery,” the report adds.

Meanwhile, neither the First lady’s Office nor that of her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, has bothered to explain the whereabouts of the woman and the actual nature of her sickness.

As was reported last night by News Express, an official of the Wiesbaden –based Horst Schmidt Klinik has disclosed that Dame Jonathan was in a bad state of health when she arrived for treatment early last week. She is believed to have undergone surgery for appendicitis after initially receiving treatment back home for food poisoning.

Both the First Lady’s spokesman, Ayo Osinlu, and Dr. Reuben Abati, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, had on Tuesday evening dismissed Dame Jonathan’s reported illness as a rumour, claiming that she travelled to Germany to rest. Both men, however, kept sealed lips on her whereabouts.

The flamboyant Dame Jonathan has yet to be seen in public for about two weeks.

*Photo: Dame Jonathan