Claims of mysterious deaths caused by unknown illness in Olamaboro local government area have been denied by the Kogi state government.
The Commissioner for health in the state, Saka Haruna said no one has died of unknown sickness.
Recall that the lawmaker representing Olamaboro constituency at the state house of assembly, Ujah Alewo had raised the alarm over a strange illness “killing people” in the community
The lawmaker at the house plenary session on Tuesday had said at least 50 people have died in mysterious circumstances since September.
The health commissoner, Haruna while reacting to the claims said the reported deaths are false, adding that the relevant authorities has already visited the area.
“In our own side of the heavily disputed community, nobody in that community has exhibited any of those symptoms, or let me put it straight that no one has died from mysterious diseases,” he said.
“With the yellow fever deaths in Enugu state, our community is relatively spared. My team has been there, our rapid response team from Kogi state ministry of health has been there and they can confirm categorically that we don’t have history of mysterious death in that community.
Told that the community’s representative at the state assembly was the person who claimed people were dying unusually, Haruna accused the lawmaker of failing to consult with relevant authorities.
“Unfortunately, he didn’t discuss with me before taking it to the floor of kogi state house of assembly. But definitely I’ll reach out to them,” he said.
He insisted “no unusual deaths” in the community, adding that the state has also introduced measures to forestall such considering its proximity with the area the outbreak started in Enugu state.
“We have our informants, the focal persons, the traditional council, and all the health workers there — both private and government-owned — have been sensitized to send information across to us as soon as they encounter some unusual symptoms among the people or symptoms suggestive of hemorrhagic fever because yellow fever is one of the hemorrhagic diseases,” he said