Ebola: Senate seeks emergency funds to stem spread

The Senate on Wednesday called for proactive measures to stem the spread of Ebola in the country, urging the Federal Government to release emergency funds from the Service Wide Votes to support preventive measures and essential services.

It said the funds should be made available to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and Ports Health Services (PHS) to immediately implement preventive measures, particularly comprehensive screening at all entry points into the country.

The Senate directed health agencies to conduct mandatory screening of all international travellers arriving in Nigeria by air, land and sea, regardless of whether they were coming from countries where exposure had been reported.

The Red Chamber also resolved to amend the Quarantine Act of 1926 to modernise public health services in the country.

The Federal Government confirmed one Ebola case in the country on Tuesday involving a female traveller who arrived in Nigeria from Uganda and was hospitalised in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The patient was also reported to have had contact with 44 people, prompting the government to immediately activate contact-tracing measures.

The Senate’s resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Senator Francis Adedayo Faduyile (Ondo South), who called for urgent government intervention to contain the spread of the disease in Nigeria.

Raising serious health concerns, Faduyile informed his colleagues that the Bundibugyo Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in May 2026 had spread rapidly, becoming the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history.

According to him, more than 9,000 confirmed cases and 4,400 deaths had been recorded, with no approved vaccine or treatment available for the particular strain.

From the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the virus spread to Uganda and Kenya before reaching Nigeria.

Faduyile expressed surprise that screening at Nigeria’s points of entry on 22 September 2026 was limited to travellers from a list of countries of concern, which did not include Kenya at the time. He noted that this left a gap that allowed the infected traveller from Uganda to enter the country without being screened.

Faduyile, a medical doctor by training, also complained that many airports, seaports and land borders lacked port health officers, thermal scanners and isolation facilities. He added that Nigeria’s Ports Health Services still operated under the century-old Quarantine Act, which he said needed to be modernised.

Contributing to the debate, Senator Sadiq Suleiman Umar (Kwara North) commended Faduyile for drawing attention to Nigeria’s vulnerability, recalling that the country had been celebrated globally for containing Ebola in 2014.

The lawmaker said Nigeria must not lose that hard-won achievement by allowing even a single case to spread, adding that the response required a coordinated, multi-agency approach, adequate resources and strict border controls, with no excuses for porous borders.

A former governor of Kebbi State, Senator Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), commended the motion as timely and urged the Minister of Health and the NCDC to strengthen the measures announced on Tuesday.

He said: “With about 4,500 deaths out of 9,000 cases and no vaccine manufactured yet for this strain, we must do all possible to control this disease.”

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, who presided over the session, expressed alarm over what he described as a “disturbing lapse at the airport” involving a traveller from Kenya.

Akpabio said he had been informed that the traveller from Kenya entered Nigeria without being screened at the point of entry.

He added: “There was no temperature check or any form of screening, and the traveller himself was worried.” He further suggested that the index case of Ebola in the FCT might have been detected at a hospital rather than at the airport, where the patient should have been screened.

“With 44 contacts already traced in 24 hours, and each of those potentially in contact with at least three more people, we are looking at a dangerous chain reaction. This is a major wake-up call,” the Senate President said, as he directed the Senate Committee on Judiciary to initiate the process of amending the Quarantine Act of 1926.

Nigeria recorded its first Ebola case in July 2014, when Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian-American official, arrived in Lagos after leaving quarantine in Liberia. He was admitted to First Consultant Medical Centre, where he was initially thought to have malaria. However, the late Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh suspected Ebola and arranged for testing, which ultimately confirmed the infection.

Adadevoh, a consultant physician and endocrinologist, refused to discharge Sawyer despite intense pressure from Liberian officials who wanted him released to attend a conference. She kept him isolated, alerted health authorities and helped prevent him from moving around Lagos while infectious. Her actions are widely credited with helping to prevent a wider outbreak in Nigeria.

While caring for Sawyer, Adadevoh contracted Ebola. She tested positive on 4 August 2014 and died on 19 August 2014, aged 57. Other health workers who had also been exposed died as well.

Nigeria continues to remember her sacrifice as a decisive act of professional courage that helped protect millions of Nigerians from contracting Ebola.