Ebola: Relation of dead doctor not in Abia, says Commissioner

Abia State Government has flatly denied rumours making the rounds that a relation of the Port Harcourt doctor, Iyke Enemuoh, who died while secretly treating an Ebola patient sneaked into Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the state.


Commissioner for Information, Eze Chikamnayo who made the denial yesterday in a press briefing described as  ” evil and mischievous,” a news report in an Aba- based radio station that the late doctor’s sibling had taken refuge in Aba.

Chikamnayo said investigations revealed that the deceased did not hail from Abia but Anambra, and that his mother was living with him in Port Harcourt while his wife had since been quarantined in Lagos.

He said that the intension of those behind the report was to cause tension and unnecessary apprehension in the state, and enjoined residents not to panic but disregard the rumour.

Chikamnayo cautioned media practitioners against false reports , noting that some lives were recently lost by drinking salt water solution when it was rumoured that it had the potency to cure Ebola.

The Commissioner who insisted that “Abia for now is Ebola – free,” assured of the preparedness of the state government to contain the spread of the killer-virus.

He said that as part of proactive measures, government had already set up five quarantine centres in addition to designating some hospital wards  in case  Ebola eventually hits the  state.


According to him, Abia government has amassed protective wears and other medical kits for health workers in the eventuality of the disease’s spread to the state.
He expressed hope that very soon scientists would develop vaccines for the treatment of the scourge which he said had received unprecedented global attention.