By RAJI RASAK

Dr Dorcas Oladunjoye, Medical Officer of Health, Badagry West Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of Lagos State, says suspected cholera outbreak in Zongo community, an Hausa/Fulani settlement in Badagry is behind deaths in the area.

Oladunjoye made the clarification in an interview with newsmen in Badagry on Thursday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Badagry area was in panic over multiple deaths that was attributed to alleged consumption of poisonous rice seized from smugglers and sold by Customs.

The Seme Area Customs Command on Sunday, dismissed the allegation of releasing poisoned rice seized from smugglers, which had reportedly resulted in the multiple deaths in the town.

The spokesman for the command, CSC Isah Sulaiman, denied the allegation in a statement in Seme, Lagos.

Oladunjoye said that a case of suspected cholera outbreak was discovered in one healthcare centre in Ajara, Badagry, two weeks ago, when a patient was brought from a community in Seme, stooling and vomiting.

?We swung into action, when it was further confirmed that they had been experiencing the sickness for many days which resulted in many deaths in the area.

?It was even the patient that made us to know that people had been stooling and vomiting in that community for some days.

?We went into the community with some of our staff and took permission from their leader (Seriki) to investigate the problems.

?We discovered that many of the residents are suffering from the suspected disease, we contacted the Lagos state Ministry of Health and relevant agencies.

?We are aware of a suspected cholera outbreak in Zongo community. There is absolutely no evidence of poisonous rice being the cause of the deaths,? she said.

Oladunjoye said that teams from the Lagos state ministry of health, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Primary Health Care Board, and Health District V had visited the affected community.

She said that food and water samples had been collected and sent for laboratory analysis but results are still pending.

According to her, Zongo community?s living conditions are alarmingly unsanitary, and their primary sources of water are contaminated.

Also speaking, Mr Sao Temitope, a Medical Health Laboratory Officer with Badagry-West LCDA, said he personally observed the same symptoms in the victims.

?There?s no doubt that we?re dealing with something waterborne, possibly cholera.

?The community is severely dirty. Safe water is nonexistent.

?This is a clear public health crisis,? he said.

Temitope confirmed that the council chairman, Joseph Gbenu had already initiated a rapid response.

?Plans are underway to launch a full-scale public health sensitisation campaign across the community.

?Health educators will teach residents how to purify their water, practice better sanitation, and avoid food contamination,? he said.

NAN recalls that on May 6, the Oglogbo Community Development Association (CDA) issued a public warning, citing a sudden spike in deaths within five days.

The notice, signed by its chairman, Mr Timothy Semasa, urged residents, particularly food vendors to act fast by boiling water, keeping their surroundings clean, and observing basic hygiene protocols. (NAN)

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