Nigerians deported from Niger begin HIV/AIDS screening

The Yobe State Agency for Control of HIV/AIDS on Saturday commenced HIV/AIDS screening for over 4,000 Nigerian returnees from Niger Republic, who fled the state at the wake of insurgency.

Executive Director of the agency, Hajiya Farida Mamudo, said in Giedam that the agency found it necessary to establish returnees HIV status to check the spread of the virus.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that over 6,000 Nigerians, mostly inhabitants of Lake Chad, have returned to the country to pave the way for military operations against insurgency.

The order for relocation was given by the Nigerien authorities.

Mamudo emphasised that some of the returnees lost their wives and husbands and might soon remarry to start a new life.

“Some of you lost your spouses and may re-marry again.

“It is therefore very important that you know your status before remarrying so that those who tested negative, are not married to those who tested positive,” she said.

The director told them that once they established their status, the agency would guide them against the various means of contracting the virus.

Mamudo said those that tested positive would be guided on care and support programmes.

She assured the returnees that the results of the screening would be treated with confidentiality and reminded them that the law on stigmatisation in Yobe State attracts two years imprisonment.