Fears of Epidemic in Borno IDP Camp as 28,000 Resort to Open Defecation, 61 Infants Hospitalised

There are fears of a possible epidemic outbreak in Bama, Borno state, where over 28,000 internally displaced persons are said to have resorted to defecating openly as a result of the lack of toilet facilities at the General Hospital where they are camped.

According to Vanguard, the hospital is the only public facility in the area as most public and private structures have been completely destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents who repeatedly attacked communities in the axis.

At least 61 infants at the camp said to be suffering from malnutrition and other ailments are equally said to have been moved and admitted at the Umaru Shehu specialist hospital in Maiduguri on the directives of the state governor, Kashim Shettima.

Shettima had earlier ordered the relocation of 478 children and 219 adults, all malnourished following 2 years of captivity in the hands of Boko Haram insurgents before they were rescued by the Nigerian military.

Aside the inadequate convenience facilities at the hospital camp, a large number of camp residents comprising women, children and male adults, were also said to be suffering from acute malnutrition with some deaths already recorded.

Brigade commander 21 armoured brigade, Col Adamu Garba Laka told newsmen that a majority of the IDPs were recently brought into Bama following liberation of neighbouring villages by troops, stressing that due to prevailing security situation, the IDPs had to be camped at Bama General Hospital, the only public structure not completely destroyed by insurgents.

Col Laka stated that the facilities at the camp had become overstretched. According to him, the most challenging issues for the IDPs were lack of food and toilet facilities to defecate, “which is very dangerous to their health, as there may be an outbreak of epidemic as the rainy season sets in.”

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