…..Stops corpses from Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia

By FRED ITUA, Abuja, AZOMA CHIKWE and AIDOGHIE PAULINUS

  Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, yesterday said health workers are carrying out screening at all the entry points in the country and that Nigeria has not closed its borders even though the authorities are still looking at all possibilities.Addressing the Diplomatic Corps in Abuja, he said Nigeria would not hesitate to close its borders if there was any superior argument .

He also stated that the Federal Government had banned Nigerians from bringing in the corpses of their loved ones into the country from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia except where there was a waiver, which must follow due process.

He said: “Alert has been sent to all the 36 states of the federation and their local governments on how measures can be taken. The world is in danger, we have an emergency at hand globally; every nation is at risk and every individual is at risk,” adding that provisions for life insurance to protect health workers in case of any loss of life would be granted.

Meanwhile, ECOWAS Commission yesterday, announced the suspension of all its meetings in order to tackle the Ebola outbreak in the sub region.

The ECOWAS Vice President, Dr. Toga Mcintosh, made the announcement at a briefing for members of the Diplomatic Corps on Nigeria’s national response to the Ebola disease outbreak.

He said: “On our own, we have undertaken to suspend all meetings that can bring us together. So, all meetings will be suspended for now.”

He said a task force had been established to monitor all information within  member states in order to share information.

He said: “We are going to fumigate the entire places where the late Patrick Sawyer stayed before his death, even the vehicle. This, I must say, is a challenge. It is not a one-country challenge, it is a global challenge.”

In a related development, the deadly Ebola virus that has held many West African nations hostage since its outbreak in February has started generating serious concerns among many residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

This was just as the FCT administration set up two Ebola emergency centres in Kuje and Karo districts.

With the first reported death of a Nigerian nurse in Lagos, fear has gripped residents of FCT. Many residents who spoke to Daily Sun, expressed fear that it was just a matter of time before the virus would get to the nation’s capital.

But the FCT Administration has expressed its readiness to adequately respond to any eventual outbreak of the virus in the territory. It said adequate measures were being put in place to checkmate the spread of the virus in the territory.

The Executive Secretary of the FCT Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Rilwan Mohammed, yesterday, organised a sensitisation workshop for health workers in the territory, who were at the risk of contracting the virus.

“The virus is fast approaching and in no time, it might be here. That is the reason we are putting healthcare workers together to lecture them. This virus does not know anybody. Everyone is at a risk. Ebola is more contagious than any other disease,” Mohammed said.

Giving the genesis of how the virus got into the country, Mohammed said: “It started like  child’s play in March. People are even using some of these animals that carry the virus as pets. Others eat the animals. This is the virus identified globally for having 90 per cent fatality rate.”

“As of today, Primary Healthcare Board is the agency that can handle this. If an individual is reported in your clinic, there are measures you put in place to safeguard your life. Treat every incoming patient as a carrier of Ebola virus.

“We are prepared to tackle the virus. We are pleading with the government to close the borders. We are not Father Christmas. I am appealing to them.

“If you see somebody with fever from today, be careful to protect yourself. As healthcare workers, wash your hands regularly with soap. There is no cure for Ebola virus.

“My advice is that we should completely cut off any contact with people from countries where there are high cases of this virus.”

While explaining the choice of the two emergency centres, Mohammed cited the nearness of Kuje to the airport as the reason for choosing the area. He said Karo would accommodate cases within and around the metropolis

Expressing her views, Charity Marcus, a media practitioner and resident of FCT, said: “What government is doing now is what they should have done a long time ago. The measures they have put in place by ensuring that those coming through the airports and borders ‎are okay.

“I think government needs to completely ban the bringing in of corpses into the country, whether certified or not. The dead should be buried abroad. There must be no exception if we must eliminate this virus.

“Government needs to do more by ensuring that nothing is compromised in ensuring that the spread is curtailed. Those stationed at our borders must put the interest of Nigeria first above personal interest. That is the only way we can tackle this outbreak.

“The level of awareness must be raised. Those at the rural areas need to be more sensitised. The current awareness programme is low. Many villagers do not even understand what Ebola virus is. Government owes us the duty to educate the public.”


Source: Sun