We Are Paying Them N100,000 Per Week — NCDC Explains Stipend For Ebola Contacts In FCT

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, NCDC, has approved an emergency payment of N100,000 per person weekly to support people placed in isolation or quarantine as part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

The NCDC Director-General, Dr. Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing on Sunday, saying the payment was introduced after some contacts complained about the cost of feeding, accommodation and maintaining their families while undergoing public health monitoring.

“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” Idris said.

“We are providing N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”

Idris explained that the intervention was not originally planned but became necessary due to the circumstances surrounding the outbreak, adding that the agency would continue to review the arrangement as the response progresses.

“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” he said.

He stressed that the FCT should not be the only jurisdiction prepared to provide such support, warning that other states would need to make adequate financial and logistical provisions should similar emergencies arise.

“This is not the responsibility of the FCT alone. What we have to do for the FCT, we have to do for any other state, just in case,” he said.

According to him, state governments must be prepared to provide resources and materials required to support contact tracing, isolation and other response activities within their jurisdictions.

The payment comes as health authorities intensify efforts to prevent further transmission of Ebola following the confirmation of an imported case in Abuja on October 20.

Idris said Nigeria had recorded one confirmed case at the time of the briefing, with 53 primary contacts identified for monitoring. The contacts include healthcare workers, household members, domestic staff and personnel involved in collecting samples from the patient.

He said the contacts were being categorised according to their exposure and followed up by public health teams, while anyone developing symptoms would be assessed and tested.

The NCDC had also established isolation arrangements for contacts requiring them, with officials monitoring their health throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.

Idris added that one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative, while surveillance and follow-up were continuing.

The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola virus. She developed symptoms on October 7, sought medical attention in Abuja on October 11 and was confirmed positive on October 20.

The World Health Organisation has identified the case as an imported infection and said investigations were continuing to establish the likely source of exposure.

Idris said the NCDC was drawing on lessons from the 2014 Ebola outbreak while strengthening preparedness across states, urging Nigerians to rely on verified information, avoid spreading rumours and cooperate with public health officials conducting contact tracing and monitoring.