The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has approved an emergency payment of N100,000 per person weekly to support people placed in isolation or quarantine as part of efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak in the FCT.
During a press briefing on Sunday, NCDC Director-General Dr. Jide Idris said the payment was introduced after some contacts complained about the cost of feeding, accommodation, and maintaining their families while they were undergoing public health monitoring.
Idris revealed this during a briefing on the agency’s response to the outbreak, explaining that the financial support was an emergency measure meant to ensure that people identified as contacts could comply with monitoring arrangements without facing additional financial hardship.
“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 N100,000 per person per week just to maintain their comfort and feeding, because they were complaining.”
The NCDC boss clarified that the intervention had not been planned from the start but became necessary due to the circumstances surrounding the outbreak.
He stated that the agency would keep reviewing the arrangement as the response moved forward.
“This was not planned for, but it is an emergency. We will continue to review it as we go along,” Idris said.
He also emphasized that the Federal Capital Territory should not be the only jurisdiction ready to offer such support, cautioning that other states would need to make sufficient financial and logistical arrangements should similar emergencies occur.
“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 him, state governments must be ready to supply the resources and materials needed to support contact tracing, isolation, and other response activities within their jurisdictions.
The payment comes as health authorities step up efforts to prevent further transmission of Ebola following the confirmation of an imported case in Abuja on October 20.
Idris said Nigeria had recorded one confirmed case as of the time 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 said the contacts were being classified according to their exposure and followed up by public health teams, while anyone who develops symptoms would be assessed and tested.
The NCDC had also made isolation arrangements for contacts who required them, with officials monitoring their health throughout the 21-day incubation period following their last possible exposure.
Idris said one contact who reported feeling unwell had tested negative, adding that surveillance and follow-up were ongoing.
The agency was also reinforcing 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 Organization has identified the case as an imported infection and said investigations were continuing to determine the likely source of exposure. The ongoing regional outbreak has also affected the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya, highlighting the importance of cross-border surveillance and rapid identification of contacts.
Nigeria previously contained an Ebola outbreak in 2014 through case identification, contact tracing, isolation, and coordinated public health action.
Idris said the NCDC was drawing on lessons from that experience while strengthening preparedness across states, warning 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 rumors, and cooperate with public health officials conducting contact tracing and monitoring.
