Sokoto records first rain as menigitis kills 53

RESIDENTS of Sokoto city and its environs on Tuesday night recorded the first rain in 2017, heaving a sigh of relief.

A total of 53 persons were officially confirmed to have died from meningitis, which was induced by the intense heat recorded in the last two months across the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the rain started at midnight and lasted for about one hour, bringing the temperature to below 30 degrees centigrade.

NAN also reports that the residents heaved a sigh of relief from the high temperature ranging from 35 degree centigrade to 42 degree centigrade.

The rain was preceded by heavy windstorm that uprooted trees and destroyed building roofs.

The high temperature had hitherto caused many residents to become dehydrated, leading to increased intake of cold drinks.

A cross section of the residents interviewed expressed happiness and thanked God for the rain.

“It has brought succour to us from the intense heat of the past few weeks,’’ a resident, who pleaded anonymity told NAN.

Before the rainfall, many residents had resorted to sleeping at the frontage of their houses at nigh to prevent heat-related diseases like meningitis and measles among others.

NAN recalls that Sokoto State was one of the states, worst hit by meningitis in the past few months.

The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Balarabe Kakale, recently said the state had recorded 41 meningitis-related deaths.

The Chairmen of Shagari and Gudu Local Governments, Alhajj Jabbi Shagari and Alhaji Ahmed Maidamma later confirmed additional ten and two more deaths in their respective areas.

The state government had since begun mass vaccination of the people against meningitis.

Government targets to immunise two million people against the epidemic across the 23 local government areas of the state.