The Apapa Area 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service yesterday sensitized officers of the command on the dangers and necessary precautions about the Ebola Virus Disease
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily yesterday, the image maker of the command, Chief Superintendent of Customs, Emmanuel Ekpa said that customs officers are vulnerable at the port as they board all vessels that call at the various terminals.
The Apapa Area 1 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service yesterday sensitized officers of the command on the dangers and necessary precautions about the Ebola Virus Disease
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily yesterday, the image maker of the command, Chief Superintendent of Customs, Emmanuel Ekpa said that customs officers are vulnerable at the port as they board all vessels that call at the various terminals.
He noted that same safety measures that are applied at the airport are now being replicated at the seaports, because according to him, customs officers usually have contact with seafarers and crew onboard vessels and this makes them vulnerable to the Ebola virus.
He disclosed that: "The Customs Area Controller decided to invite the consultant to come and lecture the officers on the disease, generally they say prevention is better than cure, the bible says that my people perished because they lack knowledge, so the knowledge of Ebola is the beginning of wisdom"
"We are the second line officers after the port health, remember that customs officers have contact with airliners at the port, with the seafarers and all the vessels that come to the port our officers board, so it is very important".
He assured that the customs management were already working towards bringing in gadgets for officers to work with because, once an officer is affected, the rest will be affected.
Also speaking with our correspondent, Medical Consultant and Virologist from the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Dr. Salu Olumuyiwa, said that the sensitization exercise was to diffuse the myth about the Ebola virus.
According to him, the vulnerability of customs officers is in the search of individuals that they usually carry out at the seaports.
Salu subsequently advised customs officers that if anybody is sick at the point of entry, it is not advisable for the customs to touch such person; they should just call the appropriate health authority to take care of the situation.
According to him, the basic way to cub the Ebola menace is by personal hygiene, saying that 99% of the infection is from human to human transmission.
"Our concern now is that at every entry in Nigeria we should be able to track, it is not conclusive, but it is a measure to reduce cases of infected persons coming into the country from any of the entry points, this is why temperatures are being checked, and anybody above 38.7 degrees will be looked into"
"The vulnerability of the customs is in the search of individuals that they do a the port, so we advised for better service, it has to be one glove to one individual, frequent hand washing and reduction in person-to-person contact" he said.
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