Cholera outbreak in Nigeria follows displacement caused by Boko Haram

Mohamed Al-Dabouli

Since August 2017, an outbreak has emerged in northeast Nigeria, where over two million people have fled their homes due to the conflict between the Nigerian army and terrorist groups, such as Boko Haram.

A report issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Oct. 6 revealed that the total number of suspected cholera cases reported stands at 4,396, with 68 associated deaths. The report also pointed out that the Nigerian government has started to take urgent procedures to contain the disease.

The World Health Organization (WHO) affirmed Cholera remains a global threat to public health and an indicator of inequity and lack of social development. Cholera is an extremely virulent disease that can cause severe acute watery diarrhoea.

Researchers have estimated that every year, there are roughly 1.3 to 4.0 million cases, and 21 000 to 143 000 deaths worldwide due to cholera.

Who also added that Cholera transmission is closely linked to inadequate access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

More than 2.1 million people have abandoned their homes because of violence or food shortages, U.N. agencies say, and many live in camps for the displaced throughout northeast Nigeria.

Other reports, such as Adelphi’s ‘Insurgency, Terrorism and Organized Crime in a Warming Climate – Analyzing the Links between Climate Change and Non-State Armed Groups’, suggest links between climate change, security and the outbreak of deadly diseases.

The disease, which spreads through contaminated food and drinking water, causes diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. It can kill within hours if left untreated, but most patients recover if treated promptly with oral rehydration salts.

Extremist group Boko Haram has waged an insurgency since 2009, taking control over the city of Borno, despite of Nigerian army’s efforts to liberate it, and depriving it of basic human needs, like clean water and proper facilities.

Thus, Nigeria became more vulnerable to epidemics and famines, as Cholera reaped the lives of more than 70 people out of 4,000 infections.

During the opening plenary of the 2018 World Water Week — “Water, Ecosystems and Human Development, at the Heart of the Global Agendas”, in Stockholm on August, UN Deputy Secretary‑General Amina Mohammed warned of the danger of water contamination in Lake Chad and north Nigeria.

“I was raised in north‑eastern Nigeria, where lack of access to clean water and sanitation is a major challenge,” Mohammed said. “Today, the Lake has shrunk by 90 per cent.  Some predict it could disappear entirely by the end of this century.

“Taken together, all these factors have contributed to increased insecurity in a region already affected by violent extremism.  I believe the rise of Boko Haram is inextricably linked with poor water management.  And the solution to conflict in the region must include equitable ways of using water resources.”