Ebola Saga: Money Crisis in Lagos infectious diseases hospital

Members of staff of the Infectious Disease Hospital in Lagos, have expressed anger over the impending removal of the hazard allowance component of their September salary. Sources in the hospital said the Lagos State government has excised the allowance, which has been paid for years in the September payroll.

“We have sighted the payroll for September already and there is no provision for this allowance which has been paid to us for more than four years. This is really terrible. If government wants to remove anybody’s allowance, should it be from us workers at the IDH? What kind of problem is this?” one of the workers of the hospital lamented.

Earlier, volunteers at the isolation ward had protested the non-payment of their daily allowance since August 30. “We learnt they want to send us away because there are no cases of Ebola again. But they should at least pay us our entitlements even if they will do that.”

A volunteer confided in a Punch our correspondent on Thursday.

While the Lagos State Government has not disclosed the cost it has incurred in containing the Ebola Virus Disease so far, it has received cash donations from some sources, including the Federal Government.

Governor Babatunde Fashola recently confirmed the receipt of a N200m assistance from the Federal Government, while officials of Seplat company also donated N20m to the state to help contain the virus, among other material and financial donations.

In the wake of the outbreak, which occurred during the nationwide strike of the Nigerian Medical Association, the state government had called for volunteers. It paid daily allowance of N30, 000, N40, 000 and N50, 000 respectively to attendants, nurses and doctors working at the isolation unit but the payment of the allowances had been stopped since August 29.

While the volunteers still report to the isolation centres daily, many of them said they were aware that the government would soon ask them to go away “because there are no more cases of Ebola in the state.”

As of Thursday, only the female student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, who was brought to the centre late on Tuesday, remained in the Lagos Ebola isolation ward. The student was said to have confessed that she had contact with the late Port Harcourt doctor, Iyke Enemuo, who died of the EVD after treating an ECOWAS diplomat in a hotel.

The student, who was rushed to the centre from Ile Ife after she fell ill and manifested symptoms similar to EVD, however, has tested negative to the Ebola virus, the OAU authorities said on Thursday.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, did not answer his call when Punch called for his confirmation of situation at