An uptick in strange deaths in Kano as the mother of Karimatu Abubakar, the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi, is dead.
She died in Bichi town on Sunday night and was buried on Monday.
There has been an uptick in strange deaths in Kano, though the state government said they are not COVID-19 related.
On Sunday, Muhammad Garba, commissioner of information, asked residents not to panic “as government is on top of the situation and the mystery or whatever it is will soon be unravelled”.
In the past one week, the state has recorded multiple deaths, with Sabitu Shaibu, deputy head of the state task force on COVID-19 putting the toll at 640.
There were concerns that the deaths could be as a result of COVID-19 (Kano has 77 confirmed cases of coronavirus) but Garba attributed them to hypertension, acute malaria,and diabetes.
Meanwhile, the Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, on Monday, April 27, has raised the alarm over the Federal government abandoned Kano state of the serious problem facing in order to battle against the COVID-19, otherwise known as Coronavirus spread.
He accused the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, saying the task force neglecting the state in its current battle against coronavirus spread.
Ganduje said this in an interview with BBC Hausa Service on Monday monitored by Newsflash247
He said, “We are in a serious problem. I can tell you the situation is really bad and scary. Because what we solely rely upon in fighting the disease is the testing centre.
“This laboratory suspended its operation five or six days ago. There is also a shortage of sample collection equipment. It is not common equipment that you can go and buy in the market. Those whose samples were collected are still waiting to know their fate.”
The governor also noted that “the problem (is) with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19. Even its Director General was in Kano. He spent a night there, but we have not heard from him again. The minister (of health) too knows the laboratory is not working.
He added, “There is serious problem. We have been complaining that Kano needs more than one testing centre, right from the beginning of this (pandemic).”
Excerpt
BBC: “If we understand you, there is problem. Are you saying you are not getting any support from federal government agencies on the fight against COVID-19?”
Ganduje: “Sincerely speaking, we are not getting deserved attention. If these equipment (testing centre) are under our control, we will do our best to make sure it works properly. But we are not getting the needed support and cooperation from Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.”
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, on Sunday said, the COVID-19 testing centre in Kano will resume operations on Monday.
The minister said this when he featured on Channels television’s Sunday Politics.
