Boko Haram: Maiduguri Groans under Weight of Influx of IDPS​

Boko Haram: Maiduguri Groans under Weight of Influx of IDPS​

Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, is groaning from pressure on its housing, health facilities and other social facilities as a result of influx of persons displaced by Boko Haram crises, which has resulted in a sharp rise of over 150 per cent in its population, from one million to 2.5 million persons.

With a total land mass of 70,898 square kilometres, Borno is second to Niger State out of the 36 states in Nigeria. It is 20 times the size of Lagos.

Consultant, ENT Surgeon and Chairman, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Mala Bukar Sandabe, in the state said over 20 percent of the 305 doctors employed by the federal and state governments medical facilities in the state have ‘systematically’ abandoned their duty posts under various legitimate excuses including sabbatical and leave of absence; private medical practice was as good as dead. There were 200 doctors at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), while 105 doctors were in the employ of the state government.

According to him, the normal health care system was over stretched, leading to a critical emergency situation when 21 out of the 27 general hospitals in each local government area of the state were displaced and many personnel in the hospitals relocated to Maiduguri.

“In these 21 local government areas, the insurgents destroyed hospitals, banks, police stations and the local government secretariats,” he said, resulting in influx of patients, particularly those in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp which has put the hospitals in Maiduguri under serious pressure.

Sandabe cited the example of routine ante-natal visits by pregnant women. “At 7a.m.,” according to him, “you could notice over 200 women in all the hospitals, those who would come later would be turned back.

The accident and emergency wards are filled with patients with many of them now lying on the floor.”

All the nine public hospitals in Maiduguri which include the Specialist Hospital, Gen. Shuwa Specialist Hospital, Maryam Abacha Specialist Hospital, Infectious Disease Hospital, Molai General Hospital (Leprosorium), Umaru Shehu Specialist Hospital, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital and the State Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital have been stretched to their limit according to Sandabe.

Painting a pathetic picture of private medical practice in Maiduguri, he said: “Right now, there are only 10 members of my association that are in private medical practice. Many of their hospitals were in the ‘no-go’ areas. Even when insurgency started to subside, their services have dwindled. They no longer have the number of capable personnel in their service.

“The curfew in the state has not helped private medical practitioners. They cannot admit patients. It is difficult to monitor patients under that condition. On many occasions, soldiers threatened to shoot ambulance drivers who convey patients and medical personnel. We had to adopt a system that required doctors on duty to stay all night. In a private hospital, with one doctor? That is not possible.”

Sandabe also disclosed that there was an emerging pattern of diseases which indicate that diarrhea and vomiting, psychological problems and kidney diseases are becoming prevalent in the state, particularly in the IDP camps. He said this could be linked to the sanitary conditions in the IDP camps.