Coronavirus

The Kogi State Government has reacted to news of the arrival of the dreaded Coronavirus disease on it’s shores. The index case of two persons was announced Wednesday night by the Nigeria Centre of Disease Control, NCDC.

The government said it is still assessing the NCDC report and studying the situation to arrive at an informed position. This was disclosed by the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Kingsley Fanwo in a short discussion with The News.

Kogi and Cross Rivers are the only states yet to have cases of the virus until the recent declaration. Expectedly, Wednesday’s announcement has elicited diverse reactions among the citizenry and on the internet.

Some hours before the two index cases were declared by the NCDC,
the State government issued a statement insisting the State is still free from the rampaging disease.
It also warned that will not recognize any Covid-19 test conducted outside it’s boundaries.

Dr. Saka Haruna Audu, Commissioner for Health in the Wednesday statement said the major interest of the State government is to secure lives and not in politics.

“Kogi State till this very moment is Covid-19 free. We have developed full testing capacity and have conducted hundreds of tests so far which have come back negative.

“We have also continued to insist that we will not be a party to any fictitious Covid-19 claims which is why we do not recognise any Covid-19 test conducted by any Kogite outside the boundaries of the State except those initiated by us.

The statement added that any attempt to “force us to announce a case of Covid-19 will be vehemently rejected.”

The Commissioner enjoined people to take all necessary precautions to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic into the State and urged them not to give listening ears to rumour peddlers and mischief makers.

“We are more than prepared to secure the life of our people and have no interest in playing politics with their Health concerns.” He concluded

Since beginning of the pandemic the State has seemingly been in a hide and seek with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC which suspects hidden cases in the State. Early this month officials of the federal agency narrowly escaped beeing quarantined by Governor Yahaya Bello when they visited the State on official assignment.