Cholera outbreak at Kano custodial centre claims two lives

Two inmates have died following a cholera outbreak at the Kurmawa Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kano State, the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has said. The Service said its medical team and Kano State public health authorities confirmed the outbreak through laboratory tests on September 23. It said the first case was detected on September 17, after an inmate developed vomiting and diarrhoea.

According to a statement issued on Saturday by the NCoS spokesman, Chief Superintendent of Corrections JN Osuji, the inmate was admitted and treated at the facility’s medical centre. Emergency medical protocols were activated the following morning, while health workers increased medical intervention and monitoring. One of the deaths occurred at the custodial centre, while the other was recorded at the Kano State Infectious Diseases Hospital, the Service said.

Controller-General of Corrections Sylvester Ndidi Nwakuche expressed condolences to the families of the deceased. The NCoS said coordinated interventions had brought the outbreak under control and that no additional deaths had been recorded since the diagnosis. It did not provide the number of inmates affected or details of the treatments administered.

The agency said further preventive measures had been introduced in cooperation with the Kano State Government to reduce the risk of another outbreak. It also said disease surveillance, early detection and prompt medical intervention were being strengthened across custodial facilities. Nwakuche directed senior medical personnel from the Service’s National Headquarters to proceed to the centre for sustained monitoring.

The NCoS said healthcare services remained available through qualified medical personnel and urged the public to rely on information from official channels.