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UPTH Plans Mass Burial For 800 …As Lassa Fever Kills 110 In Nigeria

Published

9 years ago

March 7, 2018

The Management Board of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH) has called on owners of about 800 corpses abandoned in the hospital mortuary for the last 10 years to come and evacuate them to provide enough space for fresh corpses.
The Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Prof Henry Ugboma, who made the call during an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, last Monday, stated that plans were underway to conduct mass burial for the over 800 unclaimed corpses within the next two weeks.
Ugboma warned that if the corpses were not claimed within the two-week deadline, the hospital would be left with no option than to conduct mass burial for them without recourse to their families or claimants.
He stressed that the corpses have been a burden to the resources of the hospital, as they have reduced the available space for the conservation of other corpses.
“We want to let the general public know that anybody who has a corpse here should quickly come and pick it up because after this announcement, we are going to do a mass burial as it is required by law and that is what we are doing. We are only obeying the law by letting the public know first.
“There are up to 800 unclaimed corpses occupying the space, and you can understand what that means to us. This is why we are telling the public first to come and pick them up,” he stressed.
He, therefore, called on those who have corpses in the morgue to ensure that they claim them before the window of grace elapses.
Ugboma, who is barely two months in office, stated that the hospital was being repositioned to serve its purpose as top tertiary health facility in the Niger Delta, disclosing that new equipment to boost healthcare services to patients will arrive in the next few months.
Explaining why the hospital reviewed its payment scheme downwards, the UPTH chief medical director explained that the policy was geared towards improving service delivery to the public.
He explained that the hospital has suspended the former cashless payment system in the hospital.
“We are reviewing service bills downwards to make sure that the common citizens are able to tackle their health issues,” he said.
While decrying poor funding as a major challenge to the hospital, Ugboma maintained that the situation has not deterred the management from conducting in-service training and accelerating efforts to improve workers’ welfare.
“I had to suspend the cashless system we were practising because when I came on board, and I had to review the activities, and discovered that when we were paying directly, we were making more money than when we started the cashless policy.
“But for a hospital in dire need of fund, as the chief executive, I need to do what is necessary to boost the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and so, we have to stop them,” Ugboma added.
Meanwhile, Lassa fever has claimed 110 lives in Nigeria since the beginning of the year, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said yesterday, in one of the worst outbreaks since 2016.
The World Heath Organisation last week said the epidemic had reached record highs with 317 laboratory confirmed cases and 72 people dead.
“Since the onset of the 2018 outbreak, there have been 110 deaths: 78 in positive-confirmed cases, eight in probable cases and 24 in negative cases,” the NCDC said in its latest report.
A total of 1,121 suspected cases were reported, “353 are confirmed positive, 8 are probable, 723 are negative (not a case) and 37 are awaiting laboratory results.”
The NCDC said cases have been reported in 18 of Nigeria’s 36 states while 16 health workers had been affected in six states.
Health Minister Isaac Adewole told local media yesterday that the government would soon take delivery of vaccines to tame the virus.
“We are doing everything possible to fight and address the outbreak of lassa fever on all fronts,” he said.
Lassa fever belongs to the same family as Marburg and Ebola, two deadly viruses that lead to infections with fever, vomiting and in worst-case scenarios, haemorrhagic bleeding.
The name comes from the town of Lassa in northern Nigeria where it was first identified in 1969.
More than 100 people were killed in 2016 in one of the nation’s worst outbreaks of the disease, affecting 14 of the 36 states, including Lagos and the capital Abuja.
The virus is spread through contact with food or household items contaminated with rats’ urine or faeces or after coming into direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana

Featured

Rivers Capable Of Delivering Massive Votes For Tinubu, Chinda, Others -Fubara …Charges APC, Rainbow Coalition To Embrace Team Work

Published

22 hours ago

November 13, 2026

The Tide

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has declared that the State is capable of delivering massive votes for President Bola Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Rt. Hon. Kingsley Chinda and other candidates of the Rainbow Coalition in the 2027 general elections.

Fubara, who stated this yesterday at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Port Harcourt, said the surest path to victory is for the members of the Presidential Campaign Council drawn from the APC and the Rainbow Coalition to embrace the spirit of teamwork.

He said what the state was witnessing in the current political season is a repeat of the successful mobilization done in 2022 and 2023, when a large campaign council worked in unity to deliver victory for him and for President Tinubu.

He added that the present council is bigger, wider and better coordinated and should therefore achieve even better results.

He noted that the beauty of the new council is the fact that some persons who were in the opposition camp during the previous elections are now part of the team, saying their inclusion has made the task easier, provided everyone works as one team and with sincerity of purpose.

The governor thanked the Coordinator of the Presidential Campaign Council for Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, and other leaders who worked tirelessly to bring the council to fruition, stressing that nothing is impossible especially when people work together for a common purpose.

He expressed optimism that with seriousness and commitment, the state would record a higher number of votes than it recorded in 2023.

Fubara, while congratulating members who made the list, appealed to those whose names were omitted not to be discouraged, as there are still sub-committees to be constituted and the list can still be updated, even as he warned against double loyalty.

He said the state has gone past the stage of division and is now looking to the future and what God holds for Rivers people, expressing confidence that with the strategy already put in place, the APC and the Rainbow Coalition would come out victorious in 2027.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Coordinator of the Campaign Council, Chief Nyesom Wike, while inaugurating the Council, lauded Fubara for finding time to attend the ceremony and other engagements of the Council in spite of his busy schedules.

Wike, who is also the National Leader of the PDP/ Rainbow Coalition, reminded members of the Council that they were chosen based on their capacity to participate in the activities of the group and deliver positive results.

He charged them to work hard to win votes for the candidates of the APC and the Rainbow Coalition for the Presidential, Governorship, National Assembly as well as State House of Assembly elections next year.

He disclosed that apart from the Presidential Campaign Council and its sub-committees, the Local Government Campaign Councils will soon be inaugurated to ensure better coverage of the grassroots during the current campaign season.

Featured

RSG Floats MNET Culture Content Promo

Published

1 week ago

November 6, 2026

The Tide

The Rivers State Ministry of Culture and Tourism has floated a culture content platform in collaboration with digital television group, Multichoice.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Mr. Freddy Ndigbara, disclosed this after a meeting with MultiChoice Head of Content Acquisition, Don Dotun Ojon, in Port Harcourt.

He assured that content entrepreneurs and film makers would enjoy the platform by promoting culture and other contents to sell the states tourism potentials.

He said MultiChoice M-net was now open to increase its patronage for content shots on locations in Rivers State, describing the State as one that has numerous potentials for film tourism.

“We were privileged to have Don Ojon with us at the Rivers International Film Festival (RIFF) at the weekend in Bonny and he saw, first hand, the numerous sites and opportunities that are open to creatives in the State. After that, we felt it was important to deepen the conversation and he obliged. This is a cheering news for the sector in the State,” he said.

Ndigbara stated that “Rivers State has many more untold stories to tell, many more contents to reel out and the assurances from the M-net Acquisition Manager is an indication that the industry in the state will soon enjoy a new lease of life”.

The Permanent Secretary thanked Ojon for the visit and assured that creatives in the State would grap this opportunity and show the world that Rivers State is a major hub for film tourism in Nigeria.

On his part, Ojon said the visit was to discuss on ways of promoting tourism in the State using creatives and film.

Ojon said although the company has recently been acquired by canal+ France and is undergoing restructuring, he would promote the chances of Rivers State to host the MultiChoice talent factory in the State.

With Asaba, capital of Delta State, being saturated, Ojon said the next port is Rivers State, which he said is capable of building fresh crop of creatives, new locations, new story lines and concepts.

He, therefore, called for collaboration from stakeholders in the State.

Kevin Nengia

Featured

APC Presidential Campaign Storms PH, ‘Morrow

Published

1 week ago

November 6, 2026

The Tide

Barring last minute changes, the presidential campaign train of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will storm Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, tomorrow.

This is according to a campaign timetable released by the APC Campaign Council last month.

The Tide reports that the APC presidential campaign kicked off in Kaduna on October 24 with President Bola Tinubu in attendance.

The campaign train later moved to Cross River, Gombe, Nasarawa, and Ekiti on November 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively with the Vice President, Kashim Shettima representing the President at the rallies.

President Tinubu is personally scheduled to attend 12 states including Rivers, Kaduna, Plateau, Oyo, Borno, Enugu, Bauchi, Sokoto, Delta, Kano, Adamawa and Lagos.

The Rivers State rally, scheduled to hold at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, is expected to witness a large crowd of party supporters drawn from a coalition of political parties in the State.

The party is expected to round off its presidential campaign in Lagos State on January 9, 2027.

The Tide reports that Tinubu has not visited Rivers State as President since he assumed office in May 2023. His last physical visit to the State was before his inauguration on Wednesday, May 3 – Thursday, May 4, 2023, when he was hosted by then Governor Nyesom Wike in Port Harcourt to commission the Rumuola/Rumuokwuta Flyover and the Magistrates’ Court Complex.

Tomorrow’s visit will be his first to the State since assuming office.