Cholera kills 11, 6 in critical condition in Benue

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Cholera has killed 11 people in Benue state, while six others are said to be in critical condition.
The incident occurred in Apaogbozu community in Apa council ward of Agila district in Ado local government are the state following the outbreak of cholera.
The immediate past secretary to Ado Local Government Council, Dr. Perpetual Okafor who hails from the area, disclosed this to newsmen on phone in Makurdi.
He said the outbreak which started about four days ago, had claimed many lives up till eleven and left about six people in very bad condition.
According to her,”the first day that the cholera outbreak occurred, three deaths were recorded on Sunday, and four others on Monday evening. While we were attending to those ones, four more people died. As I speak with you, six others who went for church service since yesterday were caught in the web.
“They are right inside the church, nobody is there to help us remove them. I had wanted to enter the church but I couldn’t. It was an emergency situation. Our people are dying helplessly.
“We wanted to hire private medical personnel to assist us in treating the remaining affected victims who are in critical condition, but we couldn’t because the resources is not there. We have nobody to assist our people.
“Lives have been lost and many down, whosoever knows the agency that can come to our rescue should help us please. It is an emergency situation.
Meanwhile, the Benue State Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Yanmar Ortese confirmed the situation but failed to give the number of casualty(ies) recorded so far.
According to him, the situation is only a suspected one from the area, adding that staff of the ministry are already working on it.