Kano State Government, on Friday, raised
the alarm over community transmission of COVID-19 as the virus spreads
across seven local government areas.
The state coordinator of the Task Force
on COVID-19, Dr Tijjani Useni, who raised the alarm, told journalists
that most of the 73 cases in the state had no travel history.
“The 73 cases was concentrated within
the metropolitan city, Kano Municipal has 15, Tauroni has 12, Ugogo has
12, Nasarawa has 11, Dala has nine, Gwale had none, Fagge has three,
while Kumbotso has two. Out of these 73 cases, some do not have history
of travel and cannot remember who travelled and came in contact with
them. There is evidence of community transmission of COVID-19 in Kano
State,” he said.
Though
the COVID-19 Testing Centre in Kano State has been shut down since
Wednesday, the death of an economic icon, Prof. Ibrahim Ayagi; professor
of physiology, Prof. Aliyu Abdullahi Umar Dikko; the Regional Manager
of First Bank in Kano, Abdullahi Lawal; erstwhile Managing Director (MD)
of the Defunct Continental Merchant Bank; and Mallam Musa Ahmad
Tijjani, ex-Editor of Leadership Sunday and Triumph newspapers, together
with four other illustrious personalities, have died after brief
illness not necessarily linked to the deadly pandemic.
It
was gathered that not a few suspects that the eminent personalities,
who just died, might have succumbed to strange illness since there was
no evidence of their being tested for Coronavirus since the Covid-19
Testing Centre in Kano have been shut down with no definite date for
resumption of the test in the most populous state in Nigeria. Their
demise, PRNigeria gathered, occurred within a spate of 24 hours.
They
all died between Friday, 24 April and Saturday, 25 April, 2020. The
other high-profile personalities include Alh. Adam Iliyasu Dal, a former
Chairman of the Kano State Civil Service Commission; Nasiru Maikano
Bichi; Dr. Musa Umar Gwarzo; and Ustaz Dahiru Rabiu, who is a former
Grand Khadi of Kano State.
The late Prof. Ayagi was a Commissioner
for Economic Development in the State from 1975-1978, just as he was
also a former Director-General of Kano Foundation from 1987-1990. Ayagi,
who is also the proprietor of Hassan Ibrahim Gwarzo College in Kano,
died on Saturday, after a protracted illness at the age 80. Prof. Aliyu
Umar Dikko was former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) at the Bayero
University Kano (BUK). He was involved in the opening of three faculties
of Medicine / Basic Medical Sciences in Bayero University, Kaduna State
University and Yusuf Maitama Sule University.
As for Lawal,
PRNigeria gathered, that the First Bank Regional Manager in Kano, died
from a suspected case of COVID-19. Family sources said immediately the
late Banker took ill, he was first put on admission at a private clinic
from where he was referred to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. Sources said
the late Lawal, who was in his early 50, was rushed to a private clinic
after he suffered high fever, intermittent cough, and respiratory
hiccups without getting medical care, before he gave up the ghost.
In
an audio recording, the mother-in-law to the banker alleged that the
negligence of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Kano,
led to the death of her son-in-law, as she cried out that her daughter
and grandchildren be taken in for tests to confirm if they have
contracted the dreaded COVID-19.
