By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

Cholera outbreak has hit Umuzu community in the flood ravaged Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.

Reports said that so far, 13 children and three adults were on Monday confirmed to have contracted the deadly cholera disease in the community already submerged due to the perennial flooding of the area, where it was also gathered that about 200 families were said to be missing.

Efforts to contact the Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, did not yield positive result as he neither picked calls to his phone line nor responded to a Short Message Service (SMS) sent to him.

However, the Commissioner had earlier told journalists that the state government has put in place, a medical team that would frequent all the communities affected by flooding, saying that the health team has been working with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide medical services to victims.

But the President, Children of Farmers Club, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), Prince Chris Okwuosa, told newsmen that there has not been any presence of NEMA in Umuzu.

“The few persons found to be taking refuge at a school hall depend on the flood water which they managed to boil for drinking.

“Umuzu is my community and what is happening here is that about 200 hundred families could not be found and, in fact, we will soon declare them missing in the flood.

“We have not seen any government presence since the flood came and the community health center here has no medical personnel or facilities before the flood came.

“We rely on one young man that runs a chemist shop here and his shop has been taken over by the flood. Umuzu is the last community to be submerged by the flood and after us, we have Oseakwa community and down to Oguta in Imo state,” Okwuosa said.

While disclosing that there is an outbreak of cholera in his community, the CFC leader added that “about 13 children have contracted it, including two or three adults because we don’t have drinking water but all we do is to boil the flood water for drinking.”

Speaking to journalists also, the President-General of Umuzu Community, Mr Cyprian Ezekwesili, said that the community could only be accessed at the moment by passing through Okija community in Ihiala local government area of the state or by canoe.

“How can you go there from Ogbaru local government area? You only need to go there through Okija town and that is Ihiala local government area.

“Then when you get there, you will first start looking for your relatives because you don’t even know where they are staying and some of them, their phones are off because there is no access to electricity,” Ezekwesili said.

He, however, noted that their kit and kin doing business outside Anambra state have been making voluntary cash donations for the purchase of relief materials and food items. He said that so far, about N500,000 has been realized.

Update news