Ebonyi state communities ravaged by Cholera on HWN CHOLERA UPDATE

At least 10 people have been confirmed dead following an outbreak of cholera in five communities of Ezza North Local Government Area and Ozibo village in Ebonyi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. About 20 other victims of the disease have been hospitalised and are now receiving treatment at undisclosed hospitals.

The affected communities are Umuezeoka, Umuezeokaoha, Eka, Umuoriuzo and Ozibo. Already, about 30 persons have been reported to have died of cholera outbreak in Ebonyi State since February when the first case was recorded at Edomia village in Ebonyi Local Government. Piqued by the development, the newly constituted Ebonyi State Executive Council, during its maiden meeting at the weekend, ordered immediate intervention by relevant agencies of government in the communities where there have been incidents of cholera outbreak.

The Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Emmanuel Onwe, said the council also ordered the relevant environmental agencies to immediately deploy personnel to ensure immediate removal of waste and ensure cleanliness of the environment. Onwe said at a press briefing at the Government House shortly after the meeting that the government would commence reconstruction of the Meat Market/ Gunning Road in Abakaliki City Centre to make the place clean and conducive for business.

The commissioner explained that the council ordered that salaries of civil ser- File picture of the burnt vehicles during the bank robbery vants be paid immediately, adding that the administration would be run like a business such that avoidable expenditures would be stopped. He added that the council resolved to maximise the economic potential of the state to raise its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

According to him, the government will also commence construction of overhead bridges at Akanu Ibaim Roundabout, Presco Junction and Vanco Junction in the state capital, Abakaliki. The state Epistemologist, Dr Francis Onwe, confirmed the cholera outbreak. He expressed worries that even after they had contained the earlier outbreak, it occurred in other places. The epistemologist, who administered drugs on the victims at a private hospital at Onueke in Ezza South Local Government Area, urged them to ensure that they keep their environment clean.