The increasing number of mentally-deranged people in Nsukka town of Enugu State has become a source of worry to the residents of the university community. Those who spoke to TOPHEADLINES demanded urgent action from relevant agencies to evacuate the patients for treatment.
“They are now multiplying daily,” according to an Okada operator at Odenigbo roundabout, Ifeanyi Agbedo. “Everyday new faces emerge. I don’t know if they are being dumped in Nsukka by some disgruntled persons or they are migrating from somewhere. Some of them are not shabbily dressed, implying that they are newly infected. Some are almost going naked. They should not be left to be roaming along the roads because they constitute road hazards to both motorists and pedestrians.”
A resident of Enugu road, Uchenna Ogbodo, said the prevalence of mad men and women in the town is becoming an eyesore. In her words, “Some of them walk naked. It makes the environment indecent. They walk unclothed in public. Concerned authorities should find a solution because it is getting out of hand. I am yet to hear that they hurt anybody, but allowing them freely does not portend a serene environment which we project. I saw many of them by dustbins, eating whatever they can lay their hands on.”
Johnpaul Ezea lives at Alor-Uno, Nsukka. He said, “I suspect that they are evacuated from neighbouring states to Nsukka. Some of them don’t understand Igbo; some speak Igbo very well. Some are natives. I know one said to be a native of Ede-Obara in Nsukka here. Some are very young, and one wonders what can make adolescents mad! Security agencies should do more to unravel where they are coming from.”
A social worker, Dr Sunday Agbo, said the situation might be difficult to handle because there are no psychiatric and rehabilitation centres in the state.
According to him, “The Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Enugu is a tertiary health institution. It is more of a teaching hospital. The management won’t go about mopping up mental-challenged people for treatment. The closest place they can be treated is at Irrua in Edo State. But who will take up the responsibilities? Some of them may be hard-drug related. They need to be isolated at rehabilitation centres and given psychotherapeutic support. Unfortunately, Enugu-based Borstal Training Institute has been abandoned for decades. The core mad ones are also treatable. In the interim, the local government authorities can isolate and evacuate them to any centre where they can be taken care of. It is a responsibility of the government to handle.”