Ebola: Karu residents now living in fear

By Mahmud Jika

Despite the negative status of the result of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) medical investigation on a suspected patient who died on admission at Asokoro District hospital, Abuja, some residents of Karu, a satellite area in the nation’s capital has expressed concern of the development.

They argued that relevant authorities as a matter of urgency should put more necessary structures on ground, to strengthen effort at containing the spread of the deadly virus.

Most residents maintained that looking at poor state of hygiene and the high population density of Karu-Nyanya and other satellite settlements around the FCT.

Peoples Daily recalls that the Head, Public Relations Unit, Health and Human Services Secretariat (HHSS) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Mr. Badaru Yakassai, confirmed the result from samples taken from the dead patients with the suspected deadly Ebola virus in the Territory.

A cross section of residents who spoke to Peoples Daily, expresseda lot of concerns over the increasing likelihood of outbreak of the disease in the Territory.

A resident, Luther Sunday, called on the relevant authorities to go beyond verifying claims of Ebola outbreak anywhere in the Territory, considering seriousness of the epidemic.

A trader, Malam Adamu Jata’u, who expressed shock over the incident, if the result had positive, the situation will be devastating looking at the living condition of people in the area.

Another resident, Hajjiya Sadiya Sulaiman, noted that all hands must be on deck, as both residents and the relevant authorities must stick to the task ofcontaining ‘the crazy spread of the deadly virus.’

“The situation in the country now requires not only human effort, but massive prayers from all stakeholders. May Allah protect us all,” she stressed.

“What we are hearing in the southern part of the country, is now with us in the heart of the nation.

“Although government has said no cause for alarm, but the news everywhere is not very comforting,” laments one Emmanuel David.

On his part, an estate agent, Gambo Mohammed, said Ebola is not politics is a national disaster, which calls for more concerted effort.

“Despite President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of emergency on Ebola, in order to contain the spread of the disease, it is still finding its ways to other parts; then more needs to be done,” he noted.

According to another residents, Mr. Adebanjo Lekan, “Why is it that anything bad or dangerous always starts from this area, the bomb blast rocked Nyanya -Karu area, now it is deadly Ebola?

One pastor Samuel Elijah, urged all residents to be active in prayers, adding that only prayers will reduce the threats of thispandemic.

However, a check on some hospitalsin the area, reveal that people now refraining from seeking help from medical facilities, as they are afraid of the presence of Ebola there.