How I survived Ebola – Dennis Akagha

He and his wife-to-be had lofty dreams of living fulfilled lives and raising wonderful children together. The fiance was two months pregnant and their traditional marriage had been fixed for October.

His fiancee, a graduate nurse, had just secured a job at First Consultant Hospital, Lagos. He too also just got a marketing job with an oil and gas company. She was reluctant to go to work on the first day she was expected to resume on account of 'morning sickness' (pregnancy symptoms) and he encouraged her.

She did! Lo and behold, her first duty and first patient to nurse on her first day at work was the late Patrick Sawyer, the Liberian-American, who brought the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) to Nigeria. And that decision put a full stop to the lofty dreams of a promising family. Welcome to the world of Mr. Dennis Akagha, the husband-to-be of late Miss Justina Ejelonu, the nurse, who contacted and died of the Ebola disease from Mr. Sawyer.

In an exclusive, explosive and passionate interview with Saturday Vanguard, Akagha, who contracted the disease from Miss Justina, was quarantined, treated, cured and discharged last week, spoke on how and why his fiancee died, how he contacted and survived the disease, how he was stigmatized and abandoned by co-workers and neighbours, and why victims must be given adequate care. He said perhaps, Justina would have survived with better care. Read on:

His thoughts on Ebola and late Justina

The truth is that Justina and I were not legally married, we were planning for our traditional marriage in October and she just got this job. She was a qualified graduate nurse and got the job at the First Consultant Hospital in Lagos. She resumed duty at the hospital on the 21st of July, while Patrick Sawyer was admitted at the hospital on the 20th.

He was her first patient. She was one of the nurses that nursed him. She was pregnant and so her immune system was weak, which made it easy for her to contract the disease. On that first day which was a Monday, she was having some pregnancy symptoms, but I just encouraged her to go because it was her first day at work. Sawyer was her first patient.

The next day, Tuesday, she didn't work on Sawyer. Wednesday and Thursday, she was off. Then on Friday, Patrick Sawyer died. They didn't know he had Ebola, it was three days later that they realized it was Ebola.

Dennis Akagha and Late Justina Ejelonu

When did you know that she had contacted the Ebola virus?

It was after Sawyer died that she told me she nursed him but that she was on gloves. She even thanked God that she didn't have direct contact with him. The fever continued and we thought it was just pregnancy symptoms and even when she went to her hospital, they confirmed the same thing. She took drugs and ran tests, yet it persisted. At night, she was usually cold and feverish and her body temperature was usually very high. At a point, I began to suspect that she had contacted the virus. I did some research on the disease and realised that she was having similar symptoms.

On the 14th of August, it became serious, she started stooling and vomiting. I had to clean up everything. All of a sudden, she started bleeding and she started crying that she had lost the pregnancy. I had to call her relatives and other people. The bleeding persisted and I had to clean up everything.

 

While you were attending to her did you wear gloves?

Initially I was not wearing gloves because I felt I had already been exposed to the virus. But later I cautioned myself and started wearing nylon on my hands. But I couldn't stay away from her. I kept consoling her. Even when I took her to the hospital, she wanted to hold me and I told her to also consider my safety. She managed to hold herself and was able to find her way out in a pool of her blood. We chartered a taxi to the hospital, but first, I took her to First Consultant Hospital because I felt they should know more. When we got there, I was directed to IGH, Yaba. I told the taxi driver to take us there. The driver wasn't even aware of what was going on as he took us to Yaba.

Justina was on the floor for 30 minutes before she was attended to. She was screaming that she was going to die. She was seriously bleeding, she had to come out of the taxi and lay on the floor. I ran around, trying to get doctors to attend to her. After everything, they took her in, took her blood samples and the following day, the result came out that it was Ebola. They washed the taxi with chlorine and also bathed the taxi driver and I with chlorine spray.

At that point, the taxi driver knew what was going on, he couldn't even take me home because he was so scared. I had to look for somewhere to pass the night in the hospital. Early the next morning, I left the Hospital. The taxi driver is alive today, nothing happened to him. We have been checking on him and the last time we spoke he told me, he was fine.

So what happened after you got exposed to the virus?

•Akagha with Dr. Terry

14 days after I was exposed to Ebola, my temperature rose from the usual 35.2 degrees centigrade to 37.2. The Lagos State government gave me a thermometer the day I dropped Justina off at the centre. It took them two straight weeks to visit my home and to disinfect it. Before they came, I had already done the much I could do. I used bleach and detergent to clean the whole house, furniture and clothes inclusive.

After that, what happened?

We should be reminded and educated that a healthy person with Ebola virus cannot get anybody infected, except if the person is sick and totally down with the virus like what happened to Sawyer and to my late wife-to-be, Justina. I contacted the virus because Justina was very sick and I was taking care of her without any appropriate protection. When we knew what we were dealing with it was almost too late for me as I had already contacted the virus.

Since you had already visited the centre what else was done for you by the state?

The Lagos State government sent health professionals to check on me regularly to know how l was doing or if l had the signs of the virus manifesting. So they used to come around to check on me. At some point they created scenes with their visits. I was embarrassed and I was stigmatized. I complained severely to them that I didn't like what they were doing. Then, one Saturday they visited again, I complained about the pains I was beginning to experience; excruciating pains around my waist. I started praying and asking people to pray for me.

Before this time, I believed in the Holy Communion, so I usually take it daily and do feet washing. I was going to the hospital daily to see late Justina. Initially, I was seeing her through the window and she would say I should take her out of the hospital. She complained of lack of care.

Perhaps, Justina would have survived the virus, if not for the state she was in. Her immune system was down because she was pregnant. Along the line, she had a miscarriage and lost the baby due to the Ebola virus disease.

The doctors, who were supposed to do an evacuation on her couldn't do it because they claimed that an evacuation was too risky as she was heavily infected and may pass on the virus to another person.

Since nothing was done even after the bleeding had stopped, it led to more complications for her because the already dead foetus somehow got rotten in the womb and started a damaging process which led to further complication. Meanwhile, she was still stooling and vomiting and since nobody could dare to touch her, she was left on top of her excretions even when she couldn't do much for herself due to her weak state. She was given her incisions and other drugs. I believe if some people survived Justina should have been one of them. At a point, I wished I was a doctor myself; I would have taken the risk of doing the evacuation because it really affected her.

When was the last day you saw Justina?

The Lagos State Ebola quarantine centre and Late Nurse Obi Justina Ejelonu

The last day I saw her, I had to go inside the ward because she was so unkempt as nobody attended to her. At that time, the quarantined patients were in the former facility where there was no water and she had messed up herself again. I had to look for water to clean her up, change her pampers and arrange her bedding. Since I was aware of what I was dealing with, I got myself protected while cleaning up the place. I made sure she looked better than when I saw her. Justina was shivering the last day I saw her, one side of her stomach was already swollen, and her legs were also swollen. I prayed for her. At a point, she needed oxygen and the hospital couldn't provide it. Her friends had to provide it. That was the last day I saw her.

On Sunday Morning, I called her line like I usually did before visiting her, but she didn't pick her calls. When I got to the hospital, I was told that she was dead.

Was she taking your calls while she was at the facility?

Yes, in fact she called me that last day and I knew she was going to give up, because she was saying some funny things. She said I should tell my people to go and meet her father so as to finalize our marriage plans, that she's leaving that place.

From what you have said, were you not scared that you may die as well from the disease?

I personally don't believe in taking medications. I had the mentality that I wasn't sick. I told the government what I was experiencing. On the day they came to pick me up for treatment, all of a sudden, my temperature went back to normal. The shivering and pains were all gone. So they decided that they would be checking on me. But it got to a point people stopped selling things to me. It was as if the government got a report that I shouldn't be around. So, they came and said I should go with them that they wanted to take my blood sample. I went with them and they took my blood sample, I was kept in a ward known as the 'suspected ward.'

The result came out and it was positive. I was then taken to a confined ward. One of the doctors from UNICEF, a white lady told me that they were having issues with the results and that they would have to re-run the tests. They did the tests again and it was still positive. I told them that it wasn't my result and that I was healthy. I was even doing my usual exercises (press-ups) every morning. I kept telling them that I wasn't sick. They took my blood sample the third time. That night, they told me that I tested negative in the last result and that I don't have any reason to remain there. That was how I was discharged.

While you were going through all these at the facility what happened to your job?

I was a marketer in an oil and gas company. I worked on commission basis, but at a point, I realized that people were not calling me and when I called they won't pick my calls. Even the person that I report directly refused to pick my calls and also refused to associate with me. Justina and I just got our jobs, she got hers at First Consultant Hospital and I got mine as a marketer with the oil and gas company.

Do you think that the government or First Consultant Hospital should compensate Justina's family?

Although, no amount of money they give to the family will bring her back I think the government owes Justina's family a lot because she died trying to save a situation. Justina died in active service as her death wasn't natural.

So how did your status change from positive to negative?

I was reading a book on healing and taking of the Holy Communion. So I learnt to take Holy Communion morning, afternoon and night. I also engaged myself in feet-washing every day before going to bed. The Almighty God saved me; the Holy Spirit healed me. It wasn't as though l didn't fall sick as l had direct contact with Justina but the Almighty God healed me. When I was discharged, I got to my house on Saturday evening and spent two hours the next day, Sunday, thanking God on my own. I didn't go to church or anywhere because of the already established stigma but today I can confidently attend church activities because I guess they all know I'm free now. I know my faith and belief healed me. God also worked for me apart from the fact that my immune system is also working. I believe I got healed also because friends prayed for me.

Ebola in PH: Why did Dr Enemuo treat diplomat in hotel ?

Please no more handshake, keep your hands in your pocket until we contain the disease".

The foregoing were the words of Governor Chibuike Amaechi in Government House, Port Harcourt four days after the first death was recorded from Ebola virus in the state.

Though it is not in any law book in the state but it is now like a taboo to shake hands in Government House, Port Harcourt. This new culture that came with the first recorded case of death from Ebola virus is gradually becoming the norm in several parts of the state.

The whole of last week, friends, colleagues and business associates who ordinarily would shake hands as part of their greetings and exchange of banters merely waved or cup their right fist in the air, saying " I greet you in Jesus name" or " Ebola greetings".

The state government had consistently maintained that there was no Ebola case in the state until last week Thursday when the Commissioner  for Health, Dr Sampson Parker announced with a heavy heart the first casualty of the dreaded virus. According to him, Doctor Iyke Sam Enemuo who died from Ebola virus treated a diplomat, a staff of Economic Community of West Africa, ECOWAS, who escaped from a quarantine centre in Lagos to Port Harcourt.

Rivers State. Governor of the state, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi

The diplomat was reportedly in the team that received the index case, late Patrick Sawyer when he came to the country. Like others who contracted the virus from Sawyer the diplomat also did.

Why treat the Diplomat in a hotel?

It was not clear who asked the diplomat to check into a hotel in Port Harcourt for his treatment. But the state Commissioner for  Health, Dr Parker confirmed that the diplomat checked into a hotel in the state capital. And the late Dr. Enemuo was going there to treat him.

The Diplomat who allegedly fled a quarantine centre in Lagos chose to remain incommunicado, switching off his phones while in Port Harcourt.

He reportedly regained his health and headed back to the quarantine centre in Lagos, apparently for a certificate of clean health.

But how come the Diplomat received his treatment in a hotel when Dr Enemuo ran a clinic on East West road in Rumuokoro area of Obio Akpor local government area, Rivers state is the question on many lips. The Diplomat and his late doctor could certainly answer the question. Meantime, speculations had it that the late doctor, Enemuo didnot want his patients in his hospital to be affected with the virus and that was why he arranged for the Diplomat to be treated in a hotel.

Another angle to the story said the diplomat feared he could be tracked to any hospital so he offered to hide in a hotel and take his treatment. A third dimension to the issue said the diplomat and his deceased doctor feared that if he was admitted into a hospital, staff of the place could tip government off on the presence of an Ebola patient.

Meantime, one week after the Diplomat left, Dr Enemuo took ill. His wife who is also a doctor took up the responsibility to manage him. When the situation seemed like it was getting out of hand, they reportedly approached the first hospital that rejected him until the Medical Director, Good Heart Clinic offered to assist. Dr Enemuo vomitted blood and was stooling. The Medical Director of the Good Heart hospital who suspected that the patient could have contracted the virus, alerted the state Ministry of Health. Blood samples were taken but Dr Enemuo died before the result which confirmed he had Ebola came out.

Security men at the state government owned Braithwaite Memorial Hospital, BMH testing body temperature

Painfully, his wife according to the Commissioner  for  Health, Dr. Parker showed symptoms of the disease and was quarantined. At the time of this report the Commissioner said about 100 persons who had primary and secondary contact with the deceased were on the watch list of the state government.

Saturday Vanguard gathered that the late Enemuo and his wife have a three-month old female child.

Corpse of late Enemuo caused panic at UPTH

The remains of the late Dr Enemuo deposited at the morgue of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching hospital caused tension as families hurriedly discharged their relatives from the hospital. Some workers in the morgue lamented that they were not told when the Corpse was brought in, that it was a case of Ebola virus.

A top staff of the hospital who spoke off camera said there was no need to panic as all measures had been taken to ensure the corpse did not create problem for staff.

Residents who offered comments to the Vanguard said the corpse should have been cremated. "Since a test had confirmed that it was an Ebola case, cremation should have been done on it rather than keep it in the morgue"."Government should shut down the morgue", another staff said.

Hand sanitizer sells for N1000 and above

Hand sanitizer that hitherto sold for N300 has suddenly gone up to N1000 and above as most organisations insist as an un written code that the liquid must be applied on the hand before any one steps into their officers. Some organisations even went a step further to acquire easy handle equipment to test body temperature. A security man told the Vanguard that temperature above 36 were politely turned back at the company's gate.

Long sleeve shirts now in vogue

Fear that the virus is contracted from body fluid like sweat, spittle, and so on have triggered off a new sense of fashion in Port Harcourt.You see more longsleev shirts on streets now." I wear longsleev shirts now because it protects my body from fluid in other people s body."

Commercial sex workers lament low patronage

Commercial sex workers who hang around night life areas in the new GRA , Port Harcourt grumbled about poor patronage since the outbreak of the disease. " I am an Aristo, ( a euphemism for commercial sex workers,) Ebola has spoilt our runs. Its so bad now that the real men dont come around anymore. You see small small boys coming to take advantage of the bad weather to talk sex with us", a giel said.

Ebola is politics

Surprisingly youths who spoke to the Vanguard at some local restaurants code named Long bench in Port Harcourt said the whole issue of Ebola was riddled with politics. "How do you convince me that a state that said there was no Ebola case a day before suddenly woke up the next day to say they had 100 persons on its watch list. I am confused. It is all politics. I am not saying it is not there but the various governments are playig politics with it. How do you say people are on watchlist yet they walk freely on our streets", this source queried.

Youths in Emohua protest location of Quarantine centre

Before the outbreak of Ebola in the state youths of Emohua local government had protested against the siting of the Ebola quarantine centre in Oduoha community in the local government. They feared that the disease was airborne. It took effort of the state Commissioner of Health, Dr Parker to calm them. Some had also said the local government already housed Disease control hospital so it would be unfair to site Ebola quarantine centre in the area.

Meantime, governor Amaechi has assured that the state was capable to contain spread of the virus, adding that it would work with the federal government and other foreign based organisations to manage the situation.

"I don't want anybody infected to feel shy and possibly take it to the rural areas because it could affect your children, family and relations and may result to death. That will be too disastrous. When you have high fever that you can't account for, please, don't go to any Primary health centre, come to the corridors of government and our doctors will pick you and give you adequate treatment. It is not a case all doctors can handle. Our doctors will take care of your medical treatment, feed you, so you can survive. You can see that a lot of patients infected by the Ebola virus have been successfully discharged in Lagos State. That is because of the quick response by those who reported and received adequate medical care,""There is no need to panic because the Ebola virus is not air borne.", he said.

The fear of Ebola has suddenly gripped all residents of the state. All you hear in Port Harcourt is" God save us from Ebola".

Ebola: Wife of late Dr Enemuo moved to Lagos

Wife of late Dr Iyke Samuel Enemuo who died of Ebola disease in Port Harcourt has been moved to the quarantine centre in Lagos.

Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr Sampson Parker who disclosed this yesterday at a briefing in Port Harcourt, gave the name of the Nigerian Diplomat working with the Economic Community of West Africa States, ECOWAS, who was treated by late Dr Enemuo in Port Harcourt as Olu Ibikunle Koye.

This is coming amid fears that the dreaded Ebola disease may have spread further than anticipated because the body of the late Dr Enemuo is still at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital mortuary.

Parker said the late Dr Enemuo was aware of the Ebola status of Ibikunle before treating him, adding that after the patient went back to Lagos the late doctor poured bleach in the hotel room where the patient stayed and received treatment.

" The patient had received the late Dr. Patrick Sawyer in Lagos. Upon developing the symptom confided in a female colleague, called Lillian, who contacted the late Dr. Enemuo. It was after contact was established with Dr. Enemuo that Olu Ibikunle Koye flew to Port Harcourt to see Dr. Enemuo", he said.

The Commissioner said the Diplomat who escaped from a quarantine centre in Lagos sneaked into a hotel, Mandate Gardens in Rumuokoro area of the state and also switched off his phones to evade arrest.

The late Dr Enemuo who runs Sam Steel clinic in the same Rumuokoro area had to be going to treat the patient at the hotel.

"From what we have gathered so far, Dr. Enemuo, knowing full well that Koye was positive of the Ebola virus took some measure of precaution to protect himself while treating Koye. Knowing the enormity of what he was doing, Dr. Enemuo upon Koye's departure for Lagos poured bleach all over the room that Koye slept in order to sanitise the place".

"Upon developing the Ebola symptom, Dr. Enemuo approached one of our colleagues for treatment at Green Heart Hospital, along Evboh Road, in G.R.A. Dr. Enemuo did not tell the doctor that was treating him the truth. He merely told him that he had fever. He lied. He did not tell the doctor that was treating him his full story".

But the doctor, a nice and conscientious professional, suspected that Dr. Enemuo was either hiding something or was suffering from a strange ailment because he proved negative to malaria, fever and typhoid fever. To be sure of what he was doing, he spoke to other very experienced doctors about the strange case he was handling in his hospital."

"He even invited some of his colleagues to come over to his hospital to study Dr. Enemuo's medical history. Of course, the news of the Ebola virus was everywhere, so, they were afraid to go. None of them showed up at the hospital where Dr. Enemuo was being treated. His condition continued to deteriorate and he eventually died and his body was taken to the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital.

2015: Sule Lamido’s entry rattles Presidency, PDP

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North
SUBTLE trouble is brewing at the Presidency over the last-minute decision of Jigawa State Governor, Dr. Sule Lamido, to challenge President Goodluck Jonathan in next year's presidential election.

The two-term governor's decision is said to have rattled President Jonathan and the party, which had long concluded that the race would be a straight fight between the president and others from the opposition parties.

In fact, given its internal permutations, the PDP believes that Jonathan would have a smooth sail to the election, as no other candidate would be able to challenge him and get victory at its planned national convention, which some see as a mere formality for the incumbent to be crowned.

Lamido

However, Saturday Vanguard gathered from very reliable Presidential sources that there is apprehension in the Presidency following the confirmation of Lamido's plans.

One of the sources said that the Presidency and the PDP had initially dismissed the rumoured ambition of the governor with the hope that it was mere speculation that would fizzle out with time.

A reliable source said that based on the information that Lamido had concluded plans to run for the presidency, Jonathan immediately summoned him to the Presidential Villa to clear the air on the issue.

One of the sources said that Jonathan was shell shocked when Lamido stormed the Villa recently and told the President openly that he was keen on running in the next polls.

"At that point, the President was shocked to hear from Lamido that his presidential ambition should not be seen as mere rumour, as he had made up his mind to run against him," a presidential source said.

"The way Lamido spoke with the President showed that he was not ready to back down from the race and the way he spoke about the matter was a bit unsettling to Mr. President, who had all along regarded him as one of the governors, who could not move against him," the source explained.

Lamido was said to have told the President that he had made up his mind to contest against him in the next polls despite a deliberate attempt by forces opposed to his ambition to frame him and his children up.

The governor, it was learnt, told the President that he was upset by the frequent embarrassment of his children by some agencies of government over allegations that one of them passed through an airport without declaring $40,000 in his possession.

He is said to have also drawn the president's attention to the fact that there was a deliberate attempt by government agencies to tarnish his family's image all in a bid to make him drop his presidential ambition but that he was not ready to back out of the race.

The action of the governor is said to have angered the Presidency, which promptly reported him to the National leadership of the PDP and asked it to call him to order.

It was learnt that Lamido was emboldened to go for the top job by some of his governor friends and  prominent Nigerian leaders, who are uncomfortable with the way things are going in the land.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is a friend and father figure to Lamido.

Almost at the same time early in the month, documents began to fly about that Lamido received gratification of N1.3 billion from two contractors, who had completed two projects valued at N13 billion.

Although an EFCC agent admitted last night that the agency had been investigating the Lamido family for a long time, he denied that the information on the N1.3 billion bribe allegation was instigated by the Presidency.

"Let me tell you that since we arrested Lamido's son at the airport over non-declaration of $40,000, our operatives have been investigating the family's account and it is not at the instance of the Presidency as some people are alleging," the EFCC official said.

But confronted yesterday to confirm or deny his rumoured ambition, Lamido declined to make a categorical statement on the matter.

The governor however foreclosed the possibility of going to the Senate as is the practice of most of his outgoing colleagues.

According to him, the atmosphere for him to become president is not yet there, adding that it is better for him to seek a higher office than to go the legislature to make laws after implementing laws passed by others for eight years.

Ukraine plane with 7 on board crashes in Sahara- Algeria agency

A Ukrainian plane with seven people on board crashed in the Algerian Sahara in the early hours of Saturday, the Algeria Press Service reported.

The Antonov 12 civil aircraft, which was heading towards Equatorial Guinea, crashed near the borders of Mali and Niger at around 2:00 am (0100 GMT), APS said, citing an official.

It had earlier made a stopover for unspecified technical reasons at the airport at Tamanrasset, an Algerian city in the Sahara, the report added.

Morocco keeps flying to Ebola-hit states in ‘solidarity’

Morocco, the last country to maintain regular scheduled flights to Ebola-hit nations after Air France halted departures, is carrying on through "solidarity", an airline official has said.

Medics in full gear to avoid contracting the virus

In a bid to stop the spread of the virus that has killed more than 1,500 people across West Africa, many African governments have sought to ring-fence Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia.

On Friday, Senegal became the fifth country in the region to be affected, confirming its first case of the deadly virus for which there is currently no cure. Nigeria is the other.

This week, after Air France announced it would stop flying to Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it was "absolutely vital" that airlines resume flights because bans were hindering the emergency response.

The French carrier's move followed a similar decision by British Airways which said it was stopping its flights to Freetown and Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, until next year.

Royal Air Maroc is keeping up its regular dozen flights a week to the three worst hit countries after the death toll from the world's worst Ebola outbreak reached 1,552 this week.

Brussels Airlines currently offers an irregular schedule.

"This step is through solidarity and is not commercial, reflecting the kingdom's constant commitment to Africa," RAM spokesman Hakim Challot told AFP.

- Profitless flights -

There is no profit currently in the flights, with departures from Casablanca, Morocco's commercial centre, no more than 10 percent full, he told AFP.

The Rabat government, while ensuring all health precautions are taken, aims to promote its standing with "brother countries", official TAP news agency reported.

On Thursday, WHO emergency chief Bruce Aylward call for airlines to resume their flights to the Ebola-stricken nations.

"Right now there is a super risk of the response effort being choked off because we simply cannot get enough seats on enough airplanes to get people in and out, and get goods and supplies in," he said.

"We assume that the current restrictions on airlines will stop within the next couple of weeks. This is absolutely vital," he added.

The UN envoy on Ebola David Nabarro also criticised airlines for scrapping flights, warning that the Ebola-hit countries faced increased isolation.

Morocco's "solidarity" isn't restricted to the continuing flights.

It is due to host the African Cup of Nations in January and has agreed to stage a qualifying match on September 5 between Guinea and Togo, switched because of the Ebola outbreak.

This goodwill comes a few months after Morocco launched a "new migration policy" partly aimed at responding to allegations of bad treatment of clandestine African residents.

King Mohammed visited Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea and Gabon during a tour in February and March.

He has signed many economic and political agreements with these countries.