Ebola Outbreak: 850 Nigerian soldiers returning from peacekeeping mission in Liberia to be quarantined
There are two battalions of the Nigerian Army in Liberia.
A source said on Sunday that the Army personnel were scheduled to return to the country in January but that their arrival would be delayed till March 2015.
According to the source, when they arrive in the country in March 2015, they will be quarantined in Gwagwalada, Abuja for 28 days before being allowed to go to their formations.
It was gathered that the soldiers returning from a similar mission in Sudan were not likely to be quarantined because Sudan had not recorded any Ebola case.
The source said that the Army authorities decided to ensure a painstaking observation of soldiers returning from Ebola infested countries because of the danger posed by the disease.
The Head of the Nigerian Army Medical Corps, Major-General Obashina Ogunbiyi, had said during a meeting of infectious diseases experts under the aegis of the Ebola Treatment Research Group in Abuja on Thursday that some Nigerian soldiers had been quarantined in Liberia following the death of a Sudanese who went to their camp to pray with them.
The Sudanese was said to have died two days after the prayer session and was believed to have died of the EVD.
Also, the Defence Headquarters said in a tweet on its twitter handle on Friday that “all necessary steps are being taken to ensure that no Nigerian soldier is infected with the deadly virus while serving in Liberia.”
The DHQ stated further in another tweet that the troops were quarantined for “preventive purposes and medical observation following the case of a Sudanese, a UN employee who was reported to have manifested … (the EVD).”
It was added that while no Nigerian soldier had shown symptoms of the disease, they were still confined to their camp.
Credit: Fidelis Soriwei/ Friday Olokor/PunchNews
its better for safety purpose
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