The Nation Newspaper

Category: Abuja Review

  • Patient to First Lady: please, help me

    Patient to First Lady: please, help me

    A 32-year-old patient, Daniel Imo Emori, who is suffering from spinal cord injury since 2003 has appealed to First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan to come to his aid. His travail began when he was attacked by a mad cow that caused him to be bed-ridden since the incident.

    Prior to October 2003, Daniel Imo Emori was a normal young Nigerian, working hard to make ends meet and believing that he had his whole life ahead of him. Unfortunately, it took an attack by a mad cow to make these dreams seemingly deferred.

    The 32-year-old Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) holder from Cross River State has been bed-ridden for almost 11 years. His limbs are malfunctioned, his legs are swollen and like that of a cripple. He can only turn his head sideways, speak and direct with his hands. He has been passing urine with the aid of a urine cartulary attached to his system.

    A visit to Emori in his self-contained apartment revealed a swept and clean environment. Unfortunately, the apartment exudes malodorous smell of urine due to numerous bed sores and urine cartulary.

    Fortunately for Emori, all hopes are not lost because the accident which caused him cervical injury can be repaired. His hope is that, one day, he would be able to walk again, return to school and achieve his dream of being an accountant.

    Regrettably, he is from a poor family.

    In 2003, the 5th child in a family of eight, while delivering pharmaceutical products for his company, RICOL Pharmaceuticals in Onitsha, he was attacked by a mad cow.

    At the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, the doctors discovered that he had sustained injury on the spine. He was not treated because his family could not afford the money. This necessitated his being taken to the village where he remained paralyzed for 10 years with no assistance or medication.

    He said: “One day in October 2003, I had just resumed work that morning. I was sent by one of my bosses in RICOL Pharmaceutical Company to supply drugs to one of our customers that had ordered for products at Fege Onitsha Anambra State. “As we were about to leave, a neighbour suggested that we supplied the goods to her instead which we did. So, after the supply, I wanted jump down from the vehicle, a mad cow appeared from nowhere knocked me down.

    “As soon as it happened, we thought it was a minor injury. I was taken to a nearby clinic and the next day, they referred me to the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu. After examination by the consultant, he discovered that I had spinal cord injury which is called cervical injury. The most threatening at that time, according to him, was the internal injuries that I, sustained as there was no external injury.

    “After running tests and a little treatment, they requested for N75, 000 for the operation which my family could not afford.

    “After being in Enugu for a while and the hospital could not operate on me because we could not afford the over N100, 000 bill, a matron at the hospital offered to be a Shorty for us as they will deduct the money we owe them gradually from her salary.

    “So, my family took me back to the village, where I stayed with no treatment or drugs. By 30th October last year, on the 10th anniversary of my illness, after i had pasted my picture on Facebook, one of the journalists with National Mirror in Cross River State took up my case and brought the Reverend of the Damarismilla Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to my community.

    “The NGO arranged for me to be brought to Abuja to the Primos International Hospital Karu, February 1. On arrival at, the management of the hospital requested for N150, 000 for admission which the NGO paid. After that, they paid another additional N200,000 for the hospital to run tests after which they discovered the injury on my neck, a tear in my bladder due to the prolonged use of the urine cartulary and another injury on my rib which is a bed sore caused by prolonged lying on my back.

    “To effect the operation on my neck would cost N1.2 million. They carried out the operation on the 3rd and 5th. And I was discharged. The next stage was the physiotherapy which they could not be carried out immediately. The NGO got me this accommodation and paid a house boy that takes care of me while they look for a place that I can undergo the physiotherapy.

    “The problem right now is that, contrary to the NGO’s expectation that the problem would be over after the operation, based on the doctor’s advice, they said that my condition is not going to normalise immediately but as long as I’m taking the prescribed medication and going for physiotherapy, I will get better. But the NGO said it will need support because they are running out of funds.

    “My medication monthly is very expensive. The one for this month cost N99, 480 and I get new prescriptions every month which are also expensive. They doctors for now are not sure when I will get better. I’m begging for help from the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and all well-meaning Nigerians to assist me to carry out the physiotherapy and buy my drugs so that I will be able to walk again and return to school to continue my education.”

    Emori’s medical certificate addressed To Whom It May Concern and signed by the Medical Superintendent and Head of Medical Services, Primos International Hospital Karu, Col. (Dr). E. O. Emodi (rtd) explained his medical condition.

    It states: “31-year-old male, presented in our facility on 3rd February, 2014 with 10 years history of old neck injury leading to weakness of all four limbs. He also presented with pressure sores and ulcer on his penis.

    “He underwent cervical spine surgery and Urethral repair on 10th February; he was discharged on 6th March, 2014 in a stable condition. He has been on a regular follow-up and he is advised physiotherapy and medication.”

    Kind-hearted Nigerians who wish to render financial assistance to Emori in order to have access to physiotherapy and his monthly medications could make their donations as quickly as possible to make live normal life again.

    This is his bank account details: Daniel Imo Emori, Fidelity Bank, account, 6160829205. You can contact Emori on these phone numbers 08098929156 and 08086387108.

  • APC inaugurates FCT executive committee

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has inaugurated a 25-member executive for Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), even as it inaugurated its AMAC secretariat.

    While inaugurating members of the new executive, the chairman of the party, Hon. Abdulmalik Usman urged them to embark on mass mobilisation and registration of new members that will place the party in a good stead in future elections.

    He further said new members who will be issued the permanent voter’s card will bring about the change which Nigerians desperately need.

    Usman said the APC in the FCT will do everything necessary, be it room-to-room or house-to-house campaign to ensure that residents, including those in the most remote parts of the FCT, are mobilised for registration.

    His words: “Your task is to ensure that the slogan of the party which is change starts from you as a leader and it will be extended to your followers in all the wards. Your first assignment is to go around the wards, mobilising and sensitising the people, reminding them of the need to have their voter’s card.

    “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will commence issuance of the new permanent voter’s card for those that were underage during the last registration and who have come of age now. It will be your job to encourage them to register.

    “Mobilising people to register for their voter’s card will be the weapon that we will use to effect the change that we yearn for. There will be no change without the voter’s card and the card remains the only weapon that we can use to change the government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “You will have to do whatever it takes; if it is a door-to-door or house-to-house campaign to mobilise our people at the grassroots to make sure that we come out en masse to get that weapon which is our voter’s card for use on Election Day to chase these people out of power, you have to do it.”

    On the Ekiti election Usman said: “The Ekiti election is a lesson to both parties. We all know that during the Ekiti election, the PDP government used the military to make sure that they scare people from coming out to vote. In this particular election and the general elections, it cannot happen because the number of the military in this country cannot take the equal number of what was sent to Ekiti if sent to all states. So, there will be a free atmosphere for Nigerians to vote.”

    One of the members of the executive, Emma Ezeazu who donated cars and motorcycles to ward chairmen said: “I donated the cars and motorcycles to make the party stronger, to build it and to make it stand a better chance to perform well in future elections. We will mobilise our party members and others to register and collect their cards.

    “Nigerians need to understand the need to have a strong opposition, without which our democracy will not grow. Whatever I’m doing is to strengthen the opposition so that there will be a great competition for the benefit of the people.”

    AMAC APC Publicity Secretary, Yunusa Hassan, explained that AMAC executive comprises 25 members drawn from the different wards. He also said there are areas where motorcycles are not permitted in the municipal council. This, he said, informed the provision of cars for some ward chairmen while others were given motorcycles.

  • Residents call for construction of drainage

    Residents of Dutse and Kubwa in Bwari Area Council have urged the council authorities to construct drainage system by the sides of the various roads constructed in the area to avoid flood washing off the newly constructed roads.

    They noted that erosion which causes damage to some of these roads, has become a common trend in some of the communities, even as they attributed the phenomenon to lack of drainage systems.

    “The road at the All Saints Catholic Church, Dutse where I am staying is about to collapse because of erosion. Vehicular movement has become difficult around that area,” Ejike Ugbo, a resident of Dutse said.

    Also speaking, Kenneth Igor, a resident of Kubwa complained that roads leading to various places in the town have been left at the mercy of flood. He called on the area council to expedite action on construction of drainage system before the road would become worse.

    “It is better to solve the problem now before it gets out of hand or difficult to remedy. I think the rain has been heavy this year and it has been the cause of this problem. I have never experienced a case like this before,” he said.

    Igor further said there was need for residents to avoid activities that would block the drainage which he said was one of the reasons for flooding, adding that the authorities should also embark on clearing of drainage in order to reduce the problem.

    “I know that most roads around this area have no drainage systems. It is very important that drainage systems are constructed. The residents are also to blame because sometimes, they pour household wastes into the existing ones, thereby blocking them. We should learn to avoid that. It is very important. Drainage systems are not waste dumps,” he said.

  • Deaths under pedestrian bridges

    Deaths under pedestrian bridges

    The route to safety is just overhead and does not take more than a few minutes, but the pedestrians prefer to dash across the expressway. They shun the overhead bridge. Many have died because of this negligence, if not foolhardiness.

    That is why residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) want more pedestrians built.

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has obliged and started building more pedestrian bridges to avoid the increasing deaths on the fast lane.

    Yielding to the cry of residents, the FCT Administration awarded contracts for the construction of pedestrian bridges at strategic locations across the city.

    With this development, the administration expected the residents and road users to make use of these bridges. Unfortunately, despite making these bridges available, residents, in total disregard for the foot bridges provided by government for the safety of lives of citizens, have continued to cross the ever-busy highways.

    After this, to instill the habit of using the bridges into residents, the administration decided to use barbed wire fencing to demarcate the lanes and to prevent people from crossing.

    Despite this move, our reporter observed that residents destroy some of the barbed wire fences just to enable them to cross the expressway, abandoning the footbridges provided for their safety.

    Moved by this unsavoury situation, some concerned residents have called for the creation of mobile courts in order to prosecute offenders, even as others suggested that Abuja city should adopt what is obtainable in Lagos to reduce the rate of casualty.

    Security agents have, in the past, disclosed that running across the road while trying to cross the barricade was a serious traffic offence but cases of such still persist.

    A security agent who didn’t want his name in print because he was not competent to comment on the issue said: “Where there are pedestrian bridges, we expect that people should make use of such facility and be safety conscious. Running across the road is a very serious traffic offence because it can lead to accidents and loss of lives.”

    Some of the places where these bridges are situated in Abuja are Mabushi/ Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway Junction, Area 1/Area Three Junctions and the Wuye/Wuse Junction and Kubwa Expressway, among others.

    Unfortunately, the huge amount of money invested in the construction of these pedestrian bridges appears to be a waste as many of them are hardly used by pedestrians, thereby defeating the purpose for which they were constructed.

    Today, people are only seen using the pedestrian bridges as location for brisk business where they sell hand-me-down clothes, belt, shoes, wallet, movies; rechargeable lamps, under wears, books, fruits, plantain chips, groundnuts and other items.

    Also, beggars have taken over some of the bridges as points to wait for kind-hearted passersby to give them money.

    Some residents who spoke to our reporter advanced some reasons for preferring to cross the road to using the pedestrian bridges.

    Sule Idris, a road side seller admitted that the rate of accidents on the highway was alarming, a situation which he blamed on the failure of security agencies to arrest defaulters.

    He said: “Failure of the residents to use the foot bridges should be blamed on security agencies that cannot enforce the law prohibiting people from crossing the expressway at locations where pedestrian bridges were provided. If the security agents will arrest defaulters, I think people will start using pedestrian bridges.

    “Apart from neglecting the foot bridges, there are few pedestrian bridges in the FCT. We need more foot bridges because of the size of the roads.

    “Crossing the expressway is shorter and faster than using the pedestrian bridge which happens to be too stressful,” Taiwo, another resident said.

    A resident of Kubwa, Mr. Soji Daniel said the absence of mobile courts along the highways, especially the ones close to the pedestrian bridges, would instill fears, even as it will make residents imbibe the culture of using the foot bridges.

    Mrs. Ijeoma Okoye, who our reporter met after she crossed to the other side of the road at NICON Junction said: “I know that it is dangerous to cross the expressway the way I just did but truth be told, I am scared of height. It makes me feel dizzy. So, instead of climbing the bridges, I prefer crossing the road, but I have to watch carefully before doing so.”

    Another respondent, Olaiya Thomas said: “The problem with some of these bridges is that they are too far from most junctions. And when one considers the stress associated with climbing the bridges which obviously has stairs, one will just take the risk and cross the expressway.

    On his part, Mohammed Bashir said: “People are not using the pedestrian bridges built at some locations in the city out of fear of being attacked by hoodlums.

    He added: “My sister came back home lamenting how her bag was snatched from her on the bridge. She tried to be law-abiding and used the bridge instead of doing what others did. And what did she get in return?

    “Even if she shouted for help, before help comes, the person who snatched her bag would have escaped. So, I advised her to join others crossing the expressway to avoid such situation repeating itself. I thank God it was only her bag. It could be worse.”

    At Gwarinpa Junction, Madam Beatrice said she avoids using the bridge because it will make people assume that she went to buy something on the bridge which hawkers and traders have turned into market.

    A trader on one of the bridges, Chidi explained that trading on the bridge provides him opportunity to escape arrest by task force operatives, adding that many petty traders could not afford the high fares charged for shops in the FCT markets.

    He said: “In Abuja, some of us cannot afford to pay for shops and at places like this which are used very well by residents, market moves better because people must pass here. Since our own products are cheaper than what they will get in the markets, customers will always patronise us.”

    Besides heavy human traffic situation generated by the activities of marketers on the bridges, there are several other reasons for residents not making use of the pedestrian bridges.

    Some mentioned the long distances of the bridges to the designated bus stops as their reasons for not using them.

    As reasonable as some of these excuses might sound, however, it cannot justify the non- use of the bridges, especially when compared with the dangers associated with crossing the ever-busy highways.

    In the face of this, some residents opined that security agencies should arrest and prosecute those who still cross the expressway, adding that it will serve as a lesson for others, even as it will go a long way to reducing the rate of accidents and deaths on our highways.

    Mr. Rasheed, who our reporter met in Area Three Junction Garki said: “The inability of security agents to arrest defaulters will continue to encourage people to cross the roads instead of making use of the pedestrian bridges for their safety. Many have died and some might still die as a result of their failure to use the pedestrian bridge.”

    He added that there is need for the FCT Administration to enlighten residents on the importance of pedestrian bridges and the hazards of crossing the expressways.

    A security agent who spoke to our reporter in confidence said: “The reasons advanced by pedestrians are not enough to risk their lives while crossing the road.

    They are expected to use it because it is safer than to risk their lives.

    Also commenting on the issue, an officer with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) said: “The commission has been carrying out regular intensive public enlightenment campaign on the need for pedestrians to make use of the foot bridges. A patrol team is stationed at some bridges to ensure compliance, but even with the presence of our officials, some pedestrians still play smart to cross the road.”

  • Group donates to the less-privileged

    Group donates to the less-privileged

    The joy of inmates of the City of Refuge Orphanage, Durumi Abuja knew no bounds as a pro-democracy group presented to them gifts when they paid them a visit.

    The group said the choice of celebrating the day with the orphans was to bring the attention of affluent Nigerians to the plight of the less-privileged in the society.

    The orphanage has 15 children whose ages ranged between one day and 15 years.

    According to the National Coordinator of Grassroots Campaign for Goodluck, Mohammed Lawal Rabana, visiting the orphanage was to achieve a dual purpose of bringing succour to the home as well as send message of peace to the Nigerian youths as 2015 general elections approach.

    He said: “People might wonder what the connection between a pro-democracy group and the orphanage is. Well, the fact is that whatever we are, we should not forget that we have hundreds of less-privileged children around us that we can lend helping hands to.

    “Being a political group, we believed that our presence here would bring some sort of attention to this home in particular and such institutions around the country. Any form of assistance cannot be too little for these children that need all the love they can get.

    “We want to use this visit to also lend a voice to the campaign for all Nigerian children to be in school. Having our children in school is the only means of assuring the future of this country. If efforts are not made to put most of them in school, we will end up having huge number of uneducated and uninformed youths in the future.”

    The group that was mobilising support for the return of President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term also emphasised the need for peace as the 2015 general elections draw closer.

    Rabana said the Nigerian youths must be informed of the consequences of being used as tool for violence and destruction during the electioneering period.

    “We also want to use this platform to preach peace and tell our teeming youths across the country to be as careful as possible as 2015 approaches.

    “They should not allow themselves to be used as tools for violence and destruction because the youth are the target of unscrupulous politicians.

    “Our youths must be told that the future of the country should be paramount in their minds at all times and should revisit being used to scuttle that future. What we want every Nigerian to know is that it is only God that gives power to whom He pleases.

    “With that in mind, election should not be a do-or-die affair,” he added.

    In appreciation of the several packets and bags of household items that were presented to the children, the representative of the home, Mrs. Edwin Abraham said the gesture would go a long way in enhancing the well-beings of the children.

    “The happiness and excitement exhibited by the children showed how appreciative we are of this kind gesture of yours,” she said.

    While promising to put the materials to judicious use, Abraham urged other well-meaning Nigerians to render assistance to the home in whatever form.

  • Paying last respects to Lukman

    Besides a press statement  last week Monday in which President Goodluck Jonathan expressed sadness over the death of Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting two days later also devoted some time to pay tributes to the former oil minister and secretray-general of the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC).

    The tributes started with a one-minute silence in his honour, after which members of the executive council spoke glowingly of the oil expert, recalling good memories of their encounters with him.

    Some of them were in complete dark clothes, while others wore pseudo-dark clothes like black hat or black female headgear over other colours.

    Even as Lukman, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources was noted by members of the cabinet not to be controversial in his time, the first shot during the session was taken by the current Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke who dressed in complete black attire.

    Diezani said: “We lost a venerable son who served as President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) twice. He also served as Secretary-General of OPEC.

    “In each of these assignments, he represented our country meritoriously. He was, indeed, renowned and respected throughout in the oil and gas world. But on a personal note, I recall him fondly as I sat next to him for the period of 2008 to 2009 in this very Federal Executive Council Chambers and we shared many anecdotes among ourselves.

    “He was a living compendium of the history of the Nigerian extractive industry sector. Last Month, in Vienna, after the OPEC conference, I spoke with him for about 30 minutes and he spoke vigorously and with his usual articulate safe. He gave me rewarding pieces of advice and had many words of wisdom on the issues surrounding the oil sector.

    “I am very privileged to have him as a mentor. I think it will be safe to say that for us all, Dr. Lukman will be sadly missed.”

    Minister of Culture and Tourism, Edem Duke said: “I wish to recall that as a Divisional General Manager in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Lukman was the last minister that I served. He was such a wonderful repertoire of information and influence.

    “In the comity of ministers of petroleum globally, Dr. Lukman was a diplomat with very firm character; a Nigerian who was very proud to flaunt his Nigerianness, especially in his outlook.

    “One will recall the fact that in that great organisation, often times, the tension in the deliberations are such that you needed a man of great character and discipline and firmness.

    “Dr. Lukman would literally flout like a butterfly and when it was time to position Nigeria appropriately and extract the gains due to this country, he would sting like a bee.

    “Mr. President, Dr. Lukman, in one instance and minute, would be very stern in character and in another minute, he would be one of the boys.

    “And domestically, he wielded such great influence. He was, indeed, a friend across divides. He had friends all over the country and in the true spirit of a Nigerian; he brought under his fold professionals from all over the country that worked under him in one great family.

    “I think the contributions that he had made in the sector have formed some of the building blocks of what we see today as a sector that is sustaining the economy of this great country.

    “A true Nigerian, a citizen of the world, Dr. Lukman, I think, has left indelible marks not only for my colleague ministers but also for other African ministers in that great organisation. I am sure that his spirit will rest in peace now that the rigorous task is over.”

    President Jonathan, in dark agbada and hat to match, noted that Lukman at various times served as Minister of Petroleum, Mines and Power and Foreign Affairs.

    He said: “In his early days, he schooled in the Federal College and made a first-class in Mining Engineering; of course, the first Nigerian to achieve that level of excellence. We appreciated his achievements by including him in the list of our Centenary honours. He was among Nigerians that had impacted in the first 100 years in our journey as a nation.

    “My first interaction with Dr. Lukman was when I was a Deputy Governor in Bayelsa State. I had a robust relationship with him. Though he was a highly placed person, he operated at a very low level of respect and related with all Nigerians. He was gentle with amiable character. This is the kind of person we need in Nigeria.

    “I also worked with him when I was the Vice-President to the late President Yar’Adua. Lukman was brought in as the Minister of Petroleum Resources and Ajimogobia was his Minister of State. Even then, Lukman showed exemplary character.

    “He was very calm, focused and showed that he was someone who knew his onions. He was a father figure to members of cabinet. He was much older than most of us. Lukman was advanced in age, but the country still needed his services. We know death must come to us all because we are mere mortals. But when it comes, even at very relatively advanced age, there are some people you will not want to lose. Dr. Lukman was one of such.”

    After few other ministers made their remarks, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku who wore black hat, moved the motion of condolence, while the Minister of Mines and Solid Minerals Development, Mohammed Sada seconded the motion.

  • Traders seek security

    SECURITY challenges have necessitated a call for more safety measures at  Gwagwalada market in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The  Gwagwalada Main Market Traders’ Association called on the firm handling the development of the market to fence it and mount gates at strategic places to secure it.

    In a chat with reporters, the chairman of the association, Nura Rimi said the continued threat to life and property in market places in the country has prompted the association to make the call for the security of traders.

    “The market is not fenced. With the security situation in the country, we need gates at strategic positions. The situation in the market is not secured enough because everywhere is open. We are calling on the company developing the market to put in place facilities that will ensure protection of lives and properties,” he said.

    He also pleaded with the company to begin proper electrification of the market to avoid fire outbreak in the market.

    Rimi argued that since the first batch of the market has been completed, it was time the company brought in transformers that can supply electricity to the market.

    “The present executive of the market was elected 40 days ago. We have encountered so many challenges. There are two batches in the level of construction of the market.

    “As the company has completed the first batch, we are pleading with the contractor handling the project to install transformers to supply electricity to the market. The traders are just connecting the light illegally and we are scared of what might happen,” he said.

  • Liberian with Ebola-like symptoms dies in Lagos

    Liberian with Ebola-like symptoms dies in Lagos

    The  Liberian who was  hospitalised in Lagos for suspected  Ebola virus has  died, the Lagos State government announced  yesterday.

    The  Commissioner for Health Dr. Jide Idris,his Information and Strategy counterpart, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adeshina and the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy Mr. Raji Lateef  confirmed to reporters that  the Lberian, Patrick Sawyer, 40, tested positive to Ebola virus disease in the test conducted in the country.

    He was a consultant to his country’s ministry of finace.

    He arrived in Nigeria  on Sunday and was admitted to hospital after suffering from severe vomiting and diarrhoea.

    He was subsequently quarantined   because his symptoms were associated with the virus which has killed more than 650 people across West Africa in recent months, the worst-ever outbreak since Ebola first emerged in 1976.

    Dr.Idris  said the immediate task before government now is now to dispose of the body ‘properly’  and identify  and treat everyone  who had  contact with the deceased.

    He said: ”There is  protocol.The people involved, we are talking with the hospital involved, the staff  over there.After dealing with the body we have to deal with the hospital, to sanitize the hospital, more importantly too there is the need for us to do contact tracing. We are doing that with the World Health Organization people .We are going to trace all the contacts that the man came in with on the air plane ,where they went to.

    “ Since we have got the manifest , we are going to trace all of them .Ech one of them is going to be questioned.There is protocol for questioning  and they are going to be followed in the next 21 days to see if any one of them develops  any symptom.This is what we are in the process of doing. “

    He said appropriate personnel have been deployed at the borders, seaports and  airports in Lagos with a view to ensuring that infected people are not allowed to spread the virus.

    Idris urged Lagos residents not to panic over the situation, saying treatment centers will be set up to deal with possible spread of the disease.

    Liberia has recorded 172 cases of the disease, including 105 deaths, since the outbreak began.

    Experts say that limiting the spread of the virus in a chaotic mega-city like Lagos  poses added complications compared to infections in more rural areas.

    Ebola is believed to be carried by animals hunted for meat, notably bats.

    It spreads among humans via bodily fluids including sweat, meaning you can get sick from simply touching an infected person.

    With no vaccine, patients believed to have caught the virus must be isolated to prevent further contagion.

    In Sierra Leone, officials yesterday appealed for help to trace the first known resident in the capital with Ebola whose family forcibly removed her from a Freetown hospital after testing positive for the deadly disease.

    Radio stations in Freetown, a city of around 1 million inhabitants, broadcast the appeal to locate a woman who tested positive for the disease that has killed 660 people across Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since an outbreak was first identified in February.

    “Saudatu Koroma of 25 Old Railway Line, Brima Lane, Wellington,” the announcement said. “She is a positive case and her being out there is a risk to all. We need the public to help us locate her.”

    Koroma, 32, a resident of the densely populated Wellington neighbourhood, had been admitted to an isolation ward while blood samples were tested for the virus, Health ministry spokesman Sidi Yahya Tunis. The results came back on Thursday.

    “The family of the patient stormed the hospital and forcefully removed her and took her away,” Tunis said. “We are searching for her.”

    Fighting one of the world’s deadliest diseases is straining the region’s weak health systems, while a lack of information and suspicion of medical staff has led many to shun treatment.

    Earlier this year, a man in Freetown tested positive for Ebola although he is believed to have caught it elsewhere.

    According to health ministry data and officials, dozens of people confirmed by laboratory tests to have Ebola are now unaccounted for in Sierra Leone, where the majority of cases have been recorded in the country’s east.

    While international medical organisations have deployed experts to the field in an attempt to contain the outbreak, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said poor health infrastructure and a lack of manpower were hindering their efforts.

    “We’re seeing many of these facilities simply don’t have enough people to provide the constant level of care needed,” WHO spokesman Paul Garwood told a news briefing in Geneva on Friday.

    There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, which causes diarrhoea, vomiting and internal and external bleeding. It can kill up to 90 percent of those infected, although the mortality rate of the current outbreak is around 60 percent.

    The West African outbreak is the first time that Ebola, which was first discovered in what is now Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976, has appeared in heavily populated urban areas and international travel hubs.

    Cases have already been confirmed in Conakry and Monrovia, the capital cities of Guinea and Liberia.

    The Nigeria Medical Association, (NMA) Lagos Chapter, yesterday offered to partner the Lagos State government on the suspected case of Ebola Virus Disease to prevent an outbreak.

    Its chairman, Dr Tayo Ojo ,speaking  at the inaugural briefing of the newly elected executives of the association in Lagos said the association owes it a duty ensure that the state is free of the virus.

    But he advised the public  to imbibe environmental and personal hygiene culture.

  • Home of child labourers

    Home of child labourers

    There is enough to engage your interest in the nation’s capital. You will find the rich and powerful but so will not miss the segment that is always threatened by prohibitive rent. Now, add to that the army of child labourers, especially those who, instead of being in school, hawk all manner of wares on the streets and highways of the glitzy capital city.

    While some children are seen going to school, reading hard and having lesson teachers come home to teach them after school hours or during holidays, others can’t wait to leave classes and go out to sell one or two things in order to sustain their families.

    With the influx of people into the capital city and the high standard of living experienced by residents, it is very common to see children as young as six or seven carrying wares on their heads and walking about trying to sell their products, in either traffic or street corners.

    Just like you will find in any Northern part of the country where young Hausa girls carry little wares like vegetables, pepper, tomatoes, okra, etc and selling on behalf of mothers who are not allowed outside the house, it is now slowly becoming a trend in satellite towns of Abuja like Kubwa, Zuba and Nyanya, among others.

    Unfortunately, most of these children barely go to school and begin their trade very early and can be seen sometimes dosing or lounging under trees when the sun becomes unbearable.

    Some banana sellers at the satellite towns do not come out to sell alone, you find most of them and all of their children especially at night selling banana and groundnut especially at the phase 3 traffic in Kubwa, even on school days, young children are seen in traffic as late as 10pm trying to sell their bananas to motorists and passerbys, these children that have so mastered the trade that they can be seen convincing people to buy even under the rain or when the weather is extremely cold.

    With the coming of groundnuts and fresh corn season, most of the peddlers of these food items are mostly children. Visit the Kubwa market and you will see a lot of children selling corn, groundnut, vegetable, yam, cooked cassava flour or fufu, among others, all trying hard to sell and supplement their family earnings.

    Another popular trend is common on Fridays before prayers Children lead disabled relatives to places close to popular mosques to beg for alms and sometimes even fight over people trying to give them money, even though it seems like the almajiris are not in Abuja, a visit to most of the satellite towns will prove to a visitor that they are gradually taking up a stand in these parts of the city. Here young children with their famous plastic bowls go about singing to residents for money. Some of them hang around parks and overhead bridges. The overhead bridge at the famous Second Gate in Kubwa is popular for accommodating these children; they lounge around the steps and yell greetings at passersby. Most times, when a passerby ignores and refuse to give them money after their rendition of praises, some of them will begin insulting the innocent person in Hausa.

    With the level of hardship on the increase and the almajiris making less and less money, some of these children have found alternatives to begging, some hand around the Kubwa market, following people around and asking to carry heavy loads, some that sit around the overhead bridge carry heavy loads across the bridge for stipends while of almajiris in town have now taken up another trade, they hang around traffic in town, they can even be seen at the Central Area, here they wait patiently for the light to turn red and as soon as it does, you will find little boys, some as young as six or seven struggling to wash the windscreen of cars with their readymade detergent water and stick. They do not bother to ask permission from motorists but simply dive

    on the windscreen and begin washing, most angry motorist drive them away while some allow them to finish and hand them stipends.

    Mr Benard, a taxi driver who takes Nicon junction to Secretariat route insisted that the children are a great nausea and need to be flushed out of the city centre. “ they are so annoying honestly, they won’t even take permission but use that their dirty water to stain the windscreen that you

    have already washed, i don’t give them anything oh, i just yell at them anytime they come close to my car. What they do is very dangerous and they could easily be hit by a car but they never listen and security operatives simply watch them without chasing them away.”

    A resident of Kubwa, Mercy Kalu called parents that allow their children sell things in the traffic late at night careless. Her words, “how much is it that the children are going to make for their families that they are being kept out late selling bananas that people don’t even want, some

    parents can be very careless and you see them crying when something happens to the children. These children rush through traffic most times not even checking properly to be sure that the road is clear. The government of the Federal Capital Territory needs to do something about taking these children off the streets because it is child abuse.”

     

  • Hotels to submit guests’ list to security agencies

    In his determination to ensure that life and property are better secured in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed has directed all hotels in the Capital City to forward the list of their guests to the FCT Directorate of State Security Services (SSS) and the FCT Police Command on a daily basis.

    The hotels are equally required to install their individual security cameras within their vicinity and ensure thorough check of all vehicles entering the hotels and within their surroundings.

    According to a statement issued by Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of FCT, Nosike Ogbuenyi, the minister also directed all residents and associations in various parts of the territory to embark on “operation-know-your-neighbour” campaign. The measure is to ensure that all criminally-minded elements are detected easily within the FCT.

    The security department of the FCTA is to liaise with the various security agencies in the FCT on modalities for implementing the ministerial directive.

    The minister directed all traditional rulers in the FCT to, as a matter of necessity, start conducting periodic meetings with various communities within their domains to take stock of strange faces living with them, as well as report all new comers within 48 hours to the local Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and State Security Service (SSS) office. This is in furtherance of “operation-know-your-neighbour” campaign.

    He enjoined all residents to be vigilant and cautious of strange objects or movements of persons and vehicles around them, as well as stationary vehicles. They should report same to the nearest security agencies.

    The minister further directed that all trailers/lorry operators bringing goods to the city shall no longer be allowed to offload their contents at night.