The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has conducted a comprehensive mop-up operation across various markets in Maiduguri to remove drugs and food items contaminated by the recent flood to avert possible outbreaks.
Its Director-General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, had ordered the immediate closure of some drug markets for a thorough exercise in the aftermath of the disaster.
According to a statement by the agency’s Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, the operations took place at the Gamboru drug and food market, Monday market, Open air-theatre drug market and Gwange drug market.
Director, NAFDAC in the North-East, Kenneth Azikiwe, who led the exercise, observed that the recent disaster had posed a significant risk to public health by contaminating food and drug supplies, adding that the swift action in the affected markets was crucial to ensure that only safe and uncontaminated products were available to the public.
He noted that during the operation, officials drawn from Borno, Yobe, Gombe and the NAFDAC area laboratory meticulously inspected and removed all compromised items valued at over N5 billion.
BESIDES, the state government has established two Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps to accommodate more flood victims in the Maiduguri metropolis.
The IDP camps of Muna and Gubio Road are to provide temporary shelter to refugees occupying public schools and those sleeping in the open.
Announcing the closure of school IDPs yesterday in Maiduguri, the Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Prof Usman Tar, noted: “It’s investable for the state government to close camps in various schools, as the 2024/2025 academic session had commenced on September 23, 2034.”
According to him, with the establishment of additional camps, the total number has increased to 36.
He stated that other displaced persons who were sleeping in the open, including business premises and mosques, are to be relocated to the established camps along Dikwa and Gubio roads.
Tar added that the number of refugees has increased from 600,000 to one million, representing a leap of 40 per cent.
Lamenting that most of the submerged houses are yet to dry, the commissioner explained that 700,000 IDPs were provided with shelter, in addition to the delivery of healthcare services, including the immunisation of children against cholera and measles.
He said only the severely and moderately destroyed houses are to be supported with cash transfers, as well as food and non-food items, including blankets, mats and mosquito nets.
HOWEVER, Governor Babagana Zulum has flagged off the distribution of relief materials to the victims.
According to him, the catastrophe affected about two million people, including 5,000 hectares of farmlands in the state.
Distributing the materials and cash transfers, yesterday in Maiduguri, the governor said: “We’ve set up a rapid-response team to assess the damages from the flood in phases,” stating that about 5,235 households were affected in Gwange ward of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC).
Zulum added that 587 beneficiaries had their houses destroyed, while 2,365 households experienced minimal destruction of houses and other property.
Additionally, he noted that 2,283 houses in the metropolis were partially affected by the flood.
