Caribbean island of Dominica strikes Nigerian band from music festival, citing Ebola fear
ROSEAU _ The Caribbean island of Dominica has cancelled a contract with a Nigerian band scheduled to participate in a local music festival, citing worries about the Ebola virus.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said Thursday that he struck the band called “Flavour” from the lineup of Dominica’s three-day World Creole Music Festival out of “an abundance of caution.” He noted that a total of four musicians would have flown in from Nigeria.
It is one of several countries in West Africa where Ebola has spread. However, the vast majority of the more than 3,800 deaths linked to Ebola have occurred in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Alwin Marshall-Squire is the Editor-in-Chief of S-Q Publications Inc., overseeing editorial strategy for GTA Weekly, GTA Today, and Vision Newspaper. He leads the publications’ mission to deliver bold, original journalism focused on the people and communities of the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, and the global Caribbean diaspora.
Also writes for GTA Weekly and GTA Today.
