Facts have emerged that Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi and the state government compromised in their handling of the Ebola virus case confirmed in Port Harcourt, the state capital last week.
Had the state government swung into action immediately the discovering of Ebola outbreak in the state, many lives would have been saved. Competent sources said that as soon as the carrier of the Ebola virus was identified by the doctor who handled his case, the state government was notified but Governor Amaechi swept it under the carpet
On Thursday last week, Governor Amaechi made a statewide broadcast to the people where he confirmed the death of one Dr. Ikechukwu Sam Enemuo on Friday, August 22, 2014 from suspected Ebola virus infection.
The governor had aid as a result of the death, his administration had identified and quarantined about 100 contacts from the hotel, patients of Dr. Enemuo and patients from the hospital where the deceased was treated with different locations being decontaminated.
But investigations by Nigerian Pilot in Port Harcourt showed that the governor’s broadcast was a last minute face-saving move by his administration which did not respond immediately to the discovering of the incident. Information from well-placed sources in the state indicated that the state government compromised on the Ebola outbreak in Port Harcourt and has inadvertently put the lives of millions of residents at risk. It was learnt that the state government knew about the trip of the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS diplomat to Port Harcourt as well as his health condition and treatment by the late Dr. Enemuo.
One of the close associates of the late medical doctor confided in our reporter that upon noticing that the diplomat had what looked like the Ebola virus, the late Dr. Enemuo took samples of his blood and upon confirmation, duly informed the Health Commissioner, Dr. Sampson Parker, who subsequently informed the Governor Rotimi Amaechi. But the governor instructed that the matter be kept top secret.
“Rather than take proactive measures, including informing the public, the state government kept the information under wraps until it got out of hand. It also took them one whole week to announce Enemuo’s death. A week is more than enough period for the virus to spread round the state and beyond.”
The late Dr. Enemuo, owner of Samsil Hospital in Rumuokoro treated in a hotel room, an ECOWAS diplomat who evaded surveillance in Lagos and travelled to Port Harcourt after coming in contact with the late Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American, who brought the virus to Nigeria. The diplomat, whose name remains unknown, is alleged to be Enemuo’s patient. He in turn infected the doctor, who later died.
The diplomat lodged in hotel Port Harcourt where Dr. Enemuo secretly treated and discharged him.
A week after his departure, Enemuo took ill and was rushed to Green Heart Hospital located on EVO Road, Government Reserved Area, GRA, with symptoms of fever and diarrhea. In the course of treatment, the doctors became suspicious and took blood samples for investigation. But before Enemuo died, he carried out three surgical operations in his hospital, as well as attended to several patients. His wife, new born baby and grandmother are allegedly infected.
In three days, Dr. Enemuo died. His widow, who is also a medical practitioner and who took care of him, took ill and had been quarantined in Lagos but the diplomat is alive and well.
Further investigations revealed that the ECOWAS diplomat who got Ebola from Sawyer came into Port Harcourt penultimate Monday. A source familiar with the matter told Nigerian Pilot thus: “The Rivers State government was aware that he left Lagos to Rivers State, they didn’t inform anybody. The following day (Tuesday), his treatment by the late doctor Enemuo commenced here in Port Harcourt and Dr. Enemuo got infected. The Rivers State government at some point was aware of Enemuo’s infection before he died on Friday, 22nd August. Despite being aware of his health condition, the state government allowed his body to be taken to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, UPTH mortuary without taking the necessary precautionary measures and without informing workers and the Federal Ministry of Health. The ambulance driver who took him there was not aware that he was carrying an Ebola virus victim and the mortuary attendants were also not aware that they had an Ebola corpse with them. Dr. Enemuo, before he died, had been checked into another hospital where a doctor colleague actually came into contact with Ebola fluid from Enemuo. Dr. Enemuo was said to have at a time spat on the body of his colleague doctor. Again, a female relation of Dr. Enemuo, who is also a doctor, had been closely treating him. These two doctors were not tracked down by the Rivers State government. I even understand that another concerned doctor was able to get their phone numbers and relayed same to the relevant authorities in the Rivers State so that they can track them down but this was not done for a number of days; during that period, the female colleague of his had gone on several trips to Aba and came back. So, only today (Friday, 29thAugust), a week after the death of Dr. Enemuo did the state government actually contacted these two doctors.
“Information about the movement of the infected person was not given to the public, the hotel which the initial Ebola patient stayed and was treated; the details of the hotel (such as location) hasn’t been given to the public so people don’t even know if there are a lot of people who might have visited that hotel. Only the name of the hotel has been released to the public. There is even no evidence to show that the hotel has been shut as claimed by the state government, because there is no public information about any hotel that the government has sealed up.
“Normally, if government shuts down a hotel even the neighbours and people around there would know that a certain hotel in the area has been sealed up and the news would have spread, so people are still under assumption that the hotel is still operational and more people are still being put at risk by that. So, the Rivers State government is certainly not handling the situation well. The relevant information is not being given out to the public and the movement of potential Ebola carriers is not being properly monitored,” the worried source said.
As if that was not enough, the Health Commissioner on Thursday called a meeting of all medical doctors in the state in his office. In attendance were the two doctors who treated late Dr. Enemuo. Some of the doctors who attended the meeting queried why the commissioner would allow the two doctors to sit together with them knowing the implications. They expressed fears that some of them might contact the dreaded disease and subsequently pass it on to their patients in various hospitals, thereby expanding the spread of the virus.
In the same vein, the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has said that carelessness and insensitivity on the part of Governor Amaechi and Dr. Parker were responsible for the unfortunate spread of the deadly virus in the state.
The PDP in a statement issued by Jerry Needan, Special Adviser on Media to the state chairman, Prince Felix Obuah, noted that Governor Amaechi and his health commissioner’s laxity, coupled with not being proactive in putting in place necessary facilities and modalities to preventing the Ebola outbreak, was the reason for the ugly development.
Describing the situation as devastating, the PDP regretted that all efforts by the Federal Government to contain the spread of Ebola to Rivers State were rebuffed by Amaechi, including shunning a meeting convened in Abuja on the prevention of the spread of Ebola to other states, presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, which had in attendance, 35 states’ governors, except him (Amaechi).
At the meeting, modalities for containment of the spread of the virus were considered and agreed upon, and all the governors in attendance had immediately taken proactive measures in impeding the spread, the statement noted.
When Nigerian Pilot visited the UPTH mortuary at the weekend, two attendants were weeping profusely on learning that the late Enemuo had Ebola. One of them (names withheld) told Nigerian Pilot he and his colleague received the corpse when it was brought to the morgue on Friday, 22nd August, washed and dressed it for preservation. “We never knew the doctor died of Ebola. We even gave him special treatment when we heard he was a medical doctor. He was here with us for one week and as a routine, we bring out corpses everyday to check their condition. Can you see the risk we have exposed ourselves and families”, he said, weeping.
The ambulance driver who brought the corpse to the morgue (names also withheld) equally bemoaned his fate, regretting that he was kept in the dark on the identity and cause of the death of Dr. Enemuo.
Nigerian Pilot moved round major areas of Port Harcourt at the weekend to notice that the ugly incident had adversely affected nightlife in the Garden City. Popular joints and night clubs which used to attract huge patronage such as Casablanca in the GRA, Rumuola, Stadium Road, Trans-Amadi, Presidential Hotel on Aba Road, Tombia and other areas, including Diobu, were deserted. Also visibly noticed was the near absence of hordes of night sex workers who usually hung around major hotels, night clubs and recreation centres, with operators of the centres, food vendors and cabs counting their losses in terms of revenue.
50 high risk cases identified
Meanwhile, the state Ministry of Health has banned movement of corpses in an out of morgues without clearance from the ministry. This stance was made public by DR Parker yesterday when he briefed newsmen in Port Harcourt.
Parker, who explained that the ministry was doing everything within its power to track all those who had primary and secondary contacts with the late Dr Enemuo, stated that men of the state police command are expected to stop ambulances and demand for clearance from the ministry.
According to the commissioner, 50 Ebola high risk persons have been identified in the state and that three persons have been admitted at the treatment centre at Edoha. He blamed stigmatisation for the reason why contacts had refused to identify themselves.
Parker further informed that the state governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is expected to meet with church leaders and traditional ruler in the state over the menace.
“The governor will meet with church leaders tomorrow. He will meet them by 10:00am. He will in the same vein meet with all traditional rulers on Tuesday by 10:00am.
“But, 50 high risk contacts have been identified. Quickly, the reason why I said so is because a lot of the news, stigma, and all the rest, these persons are not coming up; we are still on them. In fact, we are concentrating on these names that we have found, than still going for new ones. Work is being done to get new ones, but it is more important to capture those names we have already.
“We now have three persons at the treatment centre at Edoha; a pharmacist at Samsil Hospital and the doctor who worked with Dr. Enemuo at the same hospital, and also a lady, who was at the Good Heart Hospital while Dr. Enemuo was there. However, they have not been confirmed, we are waiting for the result of the investigation. Today (Sunday) we should have them. Also, let me quickly tell you that Mrs. Enemuo is in a stable condition in Lagos.
“Anyone who had primary or secondary contact with Dr. Enemuo or the clinics and hotel, should voluntarily come out and contact us. It doesn’t mean that you are infested; all we need to do is just to observe you and if there is anything, you let us know. The chances of survival are very high. None of those that came up in Lagos had issues; most of them were cleared.
“It is important that churches don’t keep admission wards in their churches; some of them are running into churches and groups of them are laying hands on them without knowing”, he said.
Source: Nigerian Pilot
