Recently there was an outbreak of an epidemic in Angwa Hausawa village of Damangaza community of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), which claimed about 15 lives. DAVID ADUGE-ANI and TARKAA DAVID who visited the area write on the cause of the deadly disease.On August 4, 2016 residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were warned against an outbreak of an epidemic, gastroenteritis, in Angwan Hausawa, in Damangaza village of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). As at the last count, the disease has claimed about 15 lives, while others have been treated and discharged.Damangaza has about 500 people living in the community, who are mostly Hausas. In fact 95 per cent of residents of this community are speakers of the Hausa language. LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that they have been living in the community for about 11 years.The community emerged after the demolition exercise conducted by the FCT administration during the regime of Mallam Nasir el-rufai as FCT minister. Residents of the area who were displaced by the demolition exercise had no other option than to settle in the community.Our correspondent gathered that because they settled on peoples land, the FCT administration and the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) did not deem it wise to give them any serious facilities such as potable water, electricity and good roads. A nongovernmental organisation (NGO) that saw the plight of the people living in the settlement, however, constructed two functional boreholes for the community.The boreholes are supposed to be powered by electricity. However, since there was no electricity, the boreholes have to be powered by a standby generator at the expense of the community members. The arrangement was that anybody who fetches water from the boreholes must pay the sum of N20.Also, there is a stream behind the community which is very close to the people. Unfortunately, that stream is where children in the community used to play and do their fishing and other activities. Our reporter gathered that at a point, those who could not afford the mandatory N20 for borehole water resorted to fetching water from the stream, which they use for drinking and other domestic purposes.The executive secretary, FCT Primary Health Care Development Board (PHCDB), Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, told LEADERSHIP Weekend that his office suspect that the stream could be the cause of the epidemics. He said, We are suspecting typhoid. The reason why we said we are suspecting typhoid is that one of the children to the chief of the community is being diagnosed of gastroenteritis.We also realised that over 35 people have died in the past before the last outbreak and they are mainly children. This is because they are the ones that swim in the stream and they are the ones who usually fetch water from the stream. However, there is no record. The community just told us that the problem has been there in the area for over seven months and they have been hiding it.Mohammed noted that environmental sanitation in the community is very poor, because most people in the area walk barefooted, just as the level of education is also low.His words: We had to embark on treatment for the community. We had to go into sensitising the community about personal hygiene. All the children in the community were immunised so that we dont take any chance. We made sure that we covered all the children in the community with antigens.Secondly, we had de-worming tablets for the children and Vitamin A supplement, which we gave to all the children in the community. Also we had to carry out malaria screening for all cases of malaria and treatment. On the other side, we had screening for HIV and referred all cases of HIV.He further said that as at now, the outbreak and death has stopped, adding that stool, urine, and blood samples have been taken to CDC laboratory, University of Ibadan and the FCT laboratory for diagnosis. He however pleaded with the community to make sure that the environment is clean.They should wash their hands before and after eating and after visiting the toilet. We have also told the community to always boil their water, particularly when they are fetching it from that stream. If they want to drink it they should boil it, to avoid the epidemic, Mohammed added.In response to the outbreak, AMAC said it would provide additional boreholes and public toilets, so as to arrest the situation. The AMAC chairman, Adamu Abdullahi Candido stated this when he led officials of the council on a visit to the Damangaza village.According to Candido, in the meantime, the council will provide the affected community with additional boreholes and a public toilet, in addition to the steps already taken to address the situation. The chairman however charged the people to imbibe the spirit of self-cleanliness in their surroundings and be careful about the kind of water they drink.The head, department of environment, Abuja Municipal Area Council Hajia Maimunatu Abubakar said 90 per cent of ailments doctors and nurses are battling with is as a result of dirty environment. Even polio eradication, without a clean environment we cannot succeed in eradicating polio in Nigeria. So, I believe the cause of gastroenteritis with children under five within this community is as dirty environment.Murtala Usman Karshi, Supervisory Councillor of health and environment in AMACadded that what they have done will be sustained because it is good for the people today, tomorrow and forever.He said, It is a continuous process. Our pay loaders are currently evacuating waste. When we came here during the outbreak, we discovered that it is as a result of dirty environment, so we have to begin from the basics by sanitising the environment. We have also sensitised the community on the importance of a clean environment.For us to motivate the people to always keep their environment clean, we supplied them with sanitation implements to ensure sustainability of this exercise. When the outbreak occurred, we came with the chairman of council, Hon. Adamu Candido, and we discovered that the problem was associated with their source of water.Alpha Ibrahim, a resident of Angwan Hausawa said they need the government to help them, as there is no hospital, light or school. Before the outbreak, we had just one commercial borehole but many people could not afford to pay and fetch clean water, hence they resorted to an alternative source which is usually contaminated, he said.Also, Mai Angwa, Angwan Hausawa Alh. Abdulhameedu Ibrahim, in an interview with LEADERSHIP Weekend, said AMAC brought us sanitation equipment like brooms, rakes, shovels for us to use on regular basis to clean our environment.Today, we swept and it is very good for us.After the outbreak, AMAC intervened promptly and gave us medicines and now our children are not under any threat. To avoid a reoccurrence, we have set committees and prohibited indiscriminate dumping of waste. The committee is to catch and prosecute anyone trying to litter our environment.
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