Anti-venom: In Nigeria’s ‘snake communities’ victims travel several kilometres, sell livestock to treat snakebites

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Anti-venom: In Nigeria’s ‘snake communities’ victims travel several kilometres, sell livestock to treat snakebites

In Nigeria, getting bitten by a snake is one thing, paying the ‘price’ to stay alive, as many have discovered, is another. Some survivors gave an insight into their traumatic experiences. ADEBAYO FOLORUNSHO-FRANCIS reports:

After a long and torturous journey from Jalingo, Joida Wakili, a snakebite victim, made it to Kaltungo General Hospital in Gombe. He had to travel over 220 kilometres by road to make it to the hospital.

There was a beehive of activities at the facility with doctors and nurses moving from bed to bed to attend to ailing victims, while hapless relatives wore long, mournful looks, unsure of what the outcome would be.

Arguably one of the biggest snake bite treatment centres in the country, the facility also accommodates patients from neighbouring states like Taraba, Bauchi, Borno and Yobe. Wakili was ferried to the health facility in a tricycle popularly called ‘Keke NAPEP’ by concerned relatives whose face could not mask their fear and anxiety that the victim may not survive.

The hospital did not also give them hope that Wakili would survive the deadly bite from carpet viper – a venomous snake responsible for the death of several people.

They were asked to go into the city and procure three vials of Anti-Snake Venom (ASV) for his treatment.

The relatives exchanged glances when they got wind of the cost of a single vial.

While efforts were on to liquidate some livestock to raise the money, the patient did not wait to see out his treatment.

“Wakili died before the anti-venom arrived. My people were left with no option but to take his body back home for burial,” his brother, Musa, narrated the ordeal to PUNCHHealthWise.

Musa lamented that losing his sibling to the complication of snakebite brought untold hardship on the family he left behind, a development that subsequently made his widow abandon the deceased’s children a year after his burial.

“Now, I am solely responsible for the upkeep and schooling of his two children,” he bemoaned.

The death of Raila Ezra, described as a brilliant student and future star shook Shongo community in Gombe to its root. The 15-year-old pupil of Lasassap Primary School was bitten on her way from school, her ear-splitting shriek alerted passers-by and sympathisers. Rather than rush her to a nearby health facility, poor Raila was brought home where she was subjected to local treatment for one week.

Her guardian, Ezekiel Ezra, who spoke with our correspondent through the aid of an interpreter, disclosed that the death of Raila, one of five children, was felt by all.

“She was a brilliant girl. We tried our best though. It was unfortunate she

has to go the way she did. Some people blamed us for not taking her to the hospital. But where is the money?” he fumed.

As grim and pathetic as the case of Raila, Wakili and other casualties of

snakebites might sound, there are however a considerable number of survivors who live to tell their stories.

One of such is Abubakar Umar, a 46-year-old farmer whose encounter with the crawling creature on three separate occasions was corroborated by physicians at the Kaltungo treatment centre. Umar got bitten while having a nap in his apartment on a hot, scorching day.

“The snake slipped in through a crack in the door and bit me. I woke up in shock to see it retreating. I was immediately driven to the hospital.

“It was my first time walking into the Kaltungo snake bites hospital. I must have been 30 years old or so when it happened,” he said.

Umar disclosed that it is not an unusual occurrence to see snakes crawling about in regions like Bauchi, Taraba, Plateau and Gombe, especially Kaltungo, which have communities with a high incidence of snakebites.

“It happens every time. In fact, there was a time the Emir of Kaltungo, Dr. Saleh Muhammad made a pronouncement that he would pay N1,000 for every snake caught and brought to his palace. The quest was unprecedented. People went as far as going into thick bushes and forests in search of serpents. Thank God that the danger has abated.

“The last time I got bitten was almost 10 years ago. I was walking down the road and mistakenly stepped on it. Of course, it retaliated.

“I guess I was just fortunate to have a father who quite understood the danger of delay when it comes to snake bites. Travelling from Kaltugo Hospital to the city for drugs alone usually takes a 70km journey. Many are not that fortunate.

I have seen victims die while relations were still on the quest of raising money for treatment,” he stated.

The World Health Organisation classified snakebite envenoming (poisoning from snake bites) as a high-priority neglected tropical disease.

The agency says about 5.4 million bites occur globally each year, resulting in 1.8 to 2.7million cases of envenoming and 1,37,880 death.

In Nigeria, the incidence of snake bites and fatalities is seemingly on the rise.

That perhaps explains why the Minister of State for Health, Dr. Olorunnimbe Mamora raised the alarm at the 2021 International Snakebite Awareness Day that Nigeria records 20,000 cases annually.