Ebola weary Liberia gives shoot-on-sight orders
Monday 18 Aug 2014 10:24p.m.
Liberia's armed forces have reportedly been given orders to shoot people
trying to illegally cross the border from neighbouring Sierra Leone, which
was closed to stem the spread of Ebola.
Soldiers stationed in Bomi and Grand Cape Mount counties, which border
Sierra Leone, were to "shoot on sight" any person trying to cross the
border, said deputy chief of staff, Colonel Eric Dennis, according to local
newspaper the Daily Observer.
The order comes after border officials reported people continued to cross
the porous border illegally.
Grand Cape Mount county had 35 known "illegal entry points," according to
immigration commander Colonel Samuel Mulbah.
Illegal crossings were a major health threat, said Mulbah, "because we don't
know the health status of those who cross at night".
Liberia closed its borders with Sierra Leone weeks ago in an attempt to
contain the Ebola outbreak, which killed more than 1100 people in west
Africa.
The announcement came after residents of a slum near the capital broke into
an isolation centre and freed up to 30 Ebola patients, local newspaper Front
Page Africa reported.
"As I speak the police station is deserted. There is no security now in West
Point," resident Moses Teah was quoted as saying.
The break-in to protest poor conditions at Ebola quarantine centres has
raised fears that the deadly virus will spread in the slum.
"I saw sick people being taken out of the Ebola Centre. Some took them home
to care for them," said Teah.
Other residents, who reportedly continue to deny the existence of Ebola,
looted the quarantine centre, stealing patients' mattresses, blood-stained
bedding, cooking utensils and medication, according to media reports.
Some Liberians believe the Ebola outbreak was a ploy by government to secure
foreign aid, the Daily Observer reported.
Liberians also criticise government for not providing sufficient services to
Ebola patients, including health care, food and safe burials.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that a "massive scaling up of
the international response" is necessary to get the outbreak under control.
By August 15, 2127 cases and 1145 deaths were reported from Guinea, Liberia,
Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
In Liberia, there were 786 suspected and confirmed cases, according to the
WHO, of which 413 people died.
The current outbreak is caused by the most lethal strain in the family of
Ebola viruses.
Ebola causes massive haemorrhages and has a fatality rate of up to 90
percent.
It is transmitted through contact with blood and other body fluids.
DPA
EM
On the 49th Parallel
Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in
anarchy"
Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
"Pamoja na Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja na Dk. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda ni
katika machafuko"
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