Lagos records another ​Ebola ​case

Nigeria has recorded another Ebola case, the Minister of Health, Onyebuchi Chukwu, said Monday.

Chukwu​ ​​said the new case is the fiancé of one of the primary contacts of the index case, Patrick Sawyer.

Sawyer is the Liberian-American who brought the virus to Nigeria late July.

Chukwu said the primary contact had, however, made a fully recovery.

Th​e new case brings the total number of Ebola cases in Nigeria to 19 with seven people dead from the disease while 10 others have recovered, the minister said.

He also noted that the sister of the Port Harcourt doctor, Ikechukwu Enemuo, who treated one of Sawyer’s primary contact in a hotel secretly, has fully recovered and been discharged.

Ebola crisis: Liberia faces huge surge, says WHO

Ebola is spreading exponentially in Liberia, with thousands of new cases expected in the next three weeks, the World Health Organisation says.

Conventional methods to control the outbreak were “not having an adequate impact”, the UN’s health agency added.

At least 2,100 people have died of the virus in the West African states of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria this year.

The WHO says 79 health workers have died from the virus. Organisations combating the outbreak needed to scale-up efforts “three-to-four fold”, the WHO said.

It highlighted Liberia’s Montserrado county, where 1,000 beds were needed for infected Ebola patients but only 240 were available, leading to people being turned away from treatment centres.

Taxis being used to transport infected patients appeared to be “a hot source of potential virus transmission”, the WHO said.

The Ebola disease spreads between humans by direct contact with infected blood, bodily fluids or organs, or indirectly through contact with contaminated environments.

The current outbreak has mortality rate of about 55%. Liberia has the highest number of reported cases and deaths, with more than 1,000 casualties so far.

EU to implement peace programme in Nigeria

The UN Women Representatives to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mrs Grace Ongile, said European Union would implement a programme to strengthen women’s leadership and advance gender equality in Nigeria.

Ongile made this known in Abuja at the launch of a three-year programme to encourage women to engage in peace and security in Northern parts of the country.

She said the programme would improve the protection of women and girls in communities affected by conflict.

She said, “The strategy of the programme is designed around the capacity building of Nigerian institutions, women groups and gender equality advocates.

“The programme is designed to incorporate a strong communication and knowledge management element in the hope that it will contribute to the broader societal change toward gender equality.”

Ongile said at the last steering meeting that took place on August 5, three states, Adamawa, Plateau and Gombe, were selected for the programme.

She said the EU supported the UN women and relevant organisations with 10 million Euros toward the programme, adding that the initiative was aimed at sustaining peace.

In his speech, Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, said the engagement of women was critical to the sustenance of peace, security and development.

“In conflict situations, the most vulnerable groups are women and children. Out of the 1,599 IDPs camped at Wuro Juli for instance, 76 per cent are women and children,” Dankwambo said.

Dankwambo said majority of the heads of households in the camp were widows, upon whose fragile shoulders the burden of fending for the family now falls.

He said, “This scenario highlights the relevance of this engagement programme which seeks to strengthen women’s leadership, advance gender equality and improve protection of women and children in conflict situations.

“Although women are better placed to appraise and render support to fellow women and children, this can only be done with the required encouragement of relevant agencies, like the EU, UNICEF and UN Women.”

The governor said the launch raised new hopes for their future and parents who look forward to clean water, sanitation, housing and jobs.

The EU Head of Delegation, Mr Michel Arrion, said the programme was in line with 2011 Annual Action Plan approved by the European Commission.

Arrion said, “The overall objective of the programme is to support the government of Nigeria in promoting women’s engagement in peace and security in Northern Nigeria.

“It has been designed to enhance the capacity of Nigerian beneficiaries at the federal and state levels.”

Arrion said the programme of activities would contribute to meeting the national aspirations as encapsulated in Nigeria’s vision 20:2020.

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Zainab Maina, said that with the launch, Nigeria would be on the right path to promote engagement in peace in Northern Nigeria.

She said, “This will also significantly assist Nigeria in achieving the development goals articulated in Nigeria vision 20:2020 and Transformation Agenda of the President.

“We should do our best in ensuring that these values are being inculcated into our younger generation for the purpose of sustainability of peace security and development.”

The Minister of National Planning Commission, Alhaji Abubakar Sulaimon, said additional states would be considered for inclusion in the intervention to ensure greater coverage of the affected region.

He called on relevant stakeholders both at the federal and state levels to ensure that all hands were on deck to achieve the required synergy for sustainable results.

(BREAKING NEWS) Ebola: Panic at LUTH over death of patient

(NIGERIA) The death of a patient, who is suspected to have Ebola, has caused panic among patients and doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi- Araba, Lagos State.

Information has it that the patient was brought in by members of the health authorities at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, to the hospital on Monday.

According to the doctor who was on duty when the patient was admitted into the Accident and Emergency Unit, the patient was vomiting blood and stooling, symptoms  which are similar to that of an  Ebola patient, before he died in the early hours of Tuesday at the Spill-Over ward of the hospital.

Army repels Boko Haram attack, kills 59 in Bama

At least 59 members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect were killed on Monday, as the Nigerian military repelled an attack by the sect to expand its caliphate to include Bama town, Borno State.

It would be recalled that the sect had last week declared a caliphate in Gwoza, a town 135km from Maiduguri, and may be aiming to get further mileage towards Maiduguri.

Bama is one of the largest towns in Borno, and a capture of the city would have further given vent to the determination of the sect to take over Maiduguri, the state capital.

A security source, said 59 out of about 200 insurgents who invaded the town fell to the “superior weapon handling and war tactics of the soldiers.”

He revealed that more than 30 insurgents were also left injured with various bullet wounds as the majority of the terrorists were compelled to retreat through the bush.