Ex-Rep in letter to Buhari links deaths to COVID-19, demands probeDeaths may be over 300, say indigenes, Katagum District Head confirms 110There was controversy on Saturday over an alleged huge deaths
of about 110 persons in Azare town, headquarters of Katagum Local Government Area of Bauchi State, within the past two weeks.
“We are not blaming anybody; this is a pandemic, we are just asking the government to take further action. The Federal Medical Centre there is doing well; they have over 20 people in isolation there. It’s a case of community transmission like the one in Kano. “And because media coverage is always largely skewed towards states capitals and other more prominent cities, the ongoing horrific situation in Azare has not got the attention it deserves, and that is why I want to use this privilege to appeal to you for urgent action to arrest the unpalatable situation.
Overall, there were 239 new cases in the country on Saturday, pushing the total cases to 4,151. Number of deaths increased to 128 while 745 persons have so far been discharged.But, when contacted, a member of the Katagum Emirate Council and District Head of Katagum, Usman Mahmood Abdullahi, toldin a telephone interview that there had only been 110 deaths and no evidence to link the deaths to COVID-19.
However, in a different but related twist to the controversy, a Peoples Democratic Party candidate from Azare/Madangala constituency for the House of Assembly election in the last general elections, Musa Azare, in an open letter to Governor Bala Mohammed claimed that as of Thursday, there were over 301 fresh graves dug at the Azare cemetery in the last 14 days.
He said, “And to our people, you better wake up and accept the reality of what the whole world is going through. This deliberate ignorance and reckless scepticism will not do anyone any good. In fact, it is part of the reasons why we are witnessing more and more deaths. And truly, it amounts to us killing ourselves.”
Another indigene, a teacher who lives at Azare, Mr Inuwa Umar, also told one of our correspondents on the telephone that in the past two weeks, over 300 persons had died in the community. Umar said, “I think the situation might be as a result of what is happening in Kano. We have strong economic ties with Kano. Over 30 buses go to Kano from our town daily, which means that anything that happens to Kano people might easily happen to us.
“There is panic. People that used to go there cannot go because of the fear of the unknown. There are people that go there regularly, but now they cannot go because of that. Speaking at a press conference at the Government House on Saturday, the state Deputy Governor, Baba Tela, who is also the Chairman of the state Rapid Response Task Force Committee on COVID-19 and Lassa Fever, said, “It is a seasonal thing in the area especially during the hot season when people with underlying illnesses get complications which always lead to their deaths.”
Maigoro, who made the disclosure at a news conference on Saturday in Bauchi, however, said that no death had been recorded so far amongst all the affected medical officers.
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