The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved an emergency payment of ₦100,000 per person weekly to support individuals placed in isolation or quarantine as part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
NCDC Director-General, Dr Jide Idris, disclosed this during a press briefing on Sunday, explaining that the financial assistance was introduced after some contacts raised concerns about the cost of feeding, accommodation and supporting their families while undergoing public health monitoring.
Idris said the intervention was intended to ease the financial burden on people identified as contacts and encourage compliance with public health measures.
“We are paying for their accommodation; we are paying for their feeding. Some of them are asking for a stipend to maintain their families,” he said.
He added, “We are providing ₦100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”
The NCDC chief explained that the payment was not part of the agency’s original response plan but became necessary under the circumstances. He said the arrangement would be reviewed as the outbreak response progressed.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” Idris said.
He stressed that the FCT should not be the only jurisdiction prepared to provide such assistance, noting that other states must make adequate financial and logistical provisions to respond to similar public health emergencies.
“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 Idris, state governments must be ready to provide the resources and supplies required for contact tracing, isolation and other outbreak response activities within their jurisdictions.
The emergency payment comes as health authorities intensify efforts to prevent further transmission following the confirmation of an imported Ebola case in Abuja on October 20.
Idris said Nigeria had recorded one confirmed case as 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 explained that public health teams were categorising contacts according to their level of exposure and monitoring their health, with anyone developing symptoms to be assessed and tested.
The NCDC has also established isolation arrangements for contacts who require them, while health officials monitor exposed individuals throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.
Idris disclosed that one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative for Ebola, adding that surveillance and follow-up activities were continuing.
The agency is also strengthening infection prevention and control measures in healthcare facilities, training personnel and supporting the availability of protective equipment and laboratory supplies.
The confirmed case involves a woman who travelled to Nigeria from Uganda and tested positive for the Bundibugyo strain of the 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 classified the case as an imported infection, while investigations continue to establish the likely source of exposure. The wider regional outbreak has also affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, highlighting the importance of cross-border surveillance and the rapid identification of contacts.
Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case identification, contact tracing, isolation and coordinated public health interventions.
Idris said the NCDC was drawing on lessons from that experience while strengthening preparedness across the states. He warned that containing the current outbreak would require cooperation among government agencies, healthcare workers, affected contacts and the wider public.
He urged Nigerians to rely on verified information, avoid spreading rumours and cooperate with public health officials conducting contact tracing and health monitoring.
