The Ebola Virus Disease has been in Nigeria for over four weeks and the Federal Government and health officials have been working hard to ensure it does not become an epidemic, all this happening in a period that medical doctors in Nigeria are on strike.
On Friday, August 22, the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, announced two fresh cases of the Ebola virus bringing the known cases up to 14 with five deaths, five in recovery, four in isolation and over 200 under surveillance.
Last week, a woman under surveillance travelled to the eastern part of Nigeria causing panic on a possible inter-state spread and also bringing to question the efforts of government to efficiently manage the surveillance cases and contain the spread of the disease in Nigeria.
As much as the government is trying to contain the spread of the virus, depriving Nigerians movement from one part of the country to another and other border controls are issues that may be considered unconstitutional, as it is against a citizen’s right of movement.
Channels Television had a chat with a lawmaker on the constitutional implications of these restrictions on health grounds and the issues surrounding Ebola and health in Nigeria.