Ebola: Ondo sensitises coastal communities’ residents

Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State has been enjoined to join hands with the state government and other relevant agencies in curbing the spread of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in the coastal communities. This came as the Olu of Igbokoda, in the local government area, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo, praised the state government’s efforts to sensitize the people in the coastal communities to how to prevent EVD.
Odidiomo gave the commendation after a sensitization programme organized by the state Ministry of Environment, for the people of the coastal areas. The monarch said that the programme became important because of the movement of people from neighboring West African countries into the area through the Atlantic Ocean. The traditional ruler said apart from the special lectures given to the people and residents of the communities,
it also afford the fishermen and traders the need to be vigilant with those who come from other countries to transact business in the locality.
The Commissioner for Environment, Chief Sola Ebiseni, said the programme was designed to guide against the spread of the disease to the coastal areas of the state. He said that the programme became imperative because the coastal region was the gateway to the state. According to him, many foreign traders from the West African coastline usually ply their trade through the ocean into the state. Ebiseeni said traders from the coastal West African countries such as Ghana, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Liberia usually visit the coastal region of the state to transact business and urged the traders to be vigilant.
He said: “Due to accommodating nature of Ilaje people, we have foreign fishermen among our people. We want to call on them to be vigilant. We have people from other West African countries and there is need to sensitize our people to the need to be conscious of people who transact business with them. “The message we want to pass across now is that they should study those who come into their communities from these countries and any of these people who visit their counties should not be allowed into the communities to guide against the spread of Ebola.”
Responding on behalf of the communities, a religious leader, Bishop Eretan Erenbo of the Holy Apostolic Community Church, Ayetoro, appreciated the government gestures towards the people of the area. He, however, called on government to beef up security in the coastal areas to control the movement of people from foreign countries. Erenbo promised that the people would leave no stone unturned to avoid the spread or outbreak of EVD in the area.
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