Akin Abayomi, Lagos state commissioner for health, says 25 cases of cholera have been recorded at the Kirikiri medium security prison.

Tunbosun Ogunbanwo, spokesperson of the Lagos state ministry of health, quoted the commissioner in a statement on Sunday as saying that urgent interventions have been taken at the prison.

Abayomi noted that while no new cholera-related deaths have been reported in the last 72 hours, the state government is intensifying measures to contain the outbreak.

“However, he reported that a small outbreak of 25 cases of severe gastroenteritis occurred at Kirikiri medium security prison, confirmed to be caused by cholera, adding that urgent medical and environmental intervention measures have been implemented with success,” the statement reads.

The commissioner said there is evidence of ongoing low-grade community transmission, despite the reduction in new daily cases and deaths in the state.

He advised the public on safety measures and the need for early presentation to health facilities when symptoms develop.

“We were able to supply Kirikiri medium prison with intravenous fluids, infection prevention, and other health consumables,” Abayomi said.

“Additionally, the World Health Organisation has donated 10,000 doses of pharmaceuticals which have been delivered to the prison to support prison health facilities with prevention strategies for about 3,200 inmates if required.

“Immediate water and sanitation issues have been corrected, and there are ongoing inspections of other correctional facilities in the state.”

Abayomi said the outbreak has been traced to unregulated street beverages and contaminated water supplies.

He added that many of the samples taken from popular street beverages purchased by undercover environmental officers showed the presence of Vibrio cholera bacteria, which is the cause of cholera.

“All of the containers had no NAFDAC accreditation numbers, indicating they are small cottage backyard informal production units,” he said.

“Identifying the precise location of manufacture has proven difficult, and the directorate of environmental health is planning to seal any such unregulated manufacture and make arrests of anybody involved with the manufacture or distribution of beverages without NAFDAC numbers.”

The family of late Nick Imudia, former chief executive officer (CEO) of Konga, an e-commerce company, has vehemently disputed claims that he took his own life.

On June 27, Imudia was reported to have allegedly jumped from a storey building in Lagos.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the spokesperson of the Lagos police command, told TheCable that the state criminal investigation department (SCID) has commenced an investigation into Imudia’s death.

Hundeyin said Imudia “Allegedly jumped. Investigation commenced at Homicide section SCID, Yaba”.

In a statement on Sunday, signed by Anthony Imudia, the family said his death was wrongly characterised as suicide by media reports.

“The family of Nick Imudia is unhappy with the unprofessional manner the media has wrongly characterized the reporting of Nick Imudia’s death as suicide,” the family said.

“This is also supported by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police’s office that has vowed to investigate the sudden death of Nick.

“Neither did Nick call his brother in America with instructions on how to distribute his wealth, nor placed a call to his daughter with any instructions.

“How come the news was reported so hastilly (less than 3 hours from his death) before his family members even knew about it – and the medical team was still trying to resuscitate him at the hospital.”

The family said Imudia, until his death was the group CEO of D.light International with headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, where he was residing.

“He managed the company’s worldwide operations from Nairobi,” the family said.

“Nick was full of life and people that worked closely with him or met him in the last hours prior to the incident surrounding his death were shocked with the media attributing his death to ‘suicide’.

“He was on a short visit to Lagos after a brief trip to the Netherlands and was to return to Nairobi a day after his sudden death.

“He comes from a close-knit family where support abounds and Nick never showed any sign of stress and he was not diagnosed as depressed at any point.

“The thought of suicide in the manner portrayed and hastilly reported by the news media is suspect.”

The family further asked the media and the general public to allow them to grieve their loved one without any unfounded rumour of the circumstances surrounding his death.

The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Department (FEMD) says two people have been rescued from a collapsed building in Abuja.

In a statement on Saturday, Florence Wenegieme, FEMD acting director-general, said the building collapsed on Friday evening.

Wenegieme said the collapsed building was a duplex under construction located at Close 10, Drive 5, second gate of Prince and Princess Estate, Gudu District.

She said FEMD alerted the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the FCT fire service immediately after it received a distress call about the incident.

The FEMD acting director-general said the construction workers ran out of the building when they noticed that building was going to collapse.

She added that the two people rescued were in a detached bungalow behind the building when the incident happened.

“The trapped workers were rescued by the FEMD search and rescue team, who cut through the window protectors and pulled them out,” she said.

Emphasising construction safety, Wenegieme urged developers and homeowners to prioritize following building codes, including professional assessments of existing buildings before renovations begin and proper safety gear for workers.

She also called for insurance coverage for both the building and the workers.