Nigerians have taken to social media to express worry over alleged
mysterious deaths in Kano state which has reportedly risen to 640 in one
week.
Though the state was on lockdown for 7 days, it was recently relaxed
for a day by Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje following the declaration
of Ramadan.
While the mysterious disease killing people in the state has been
linked to Coronavirus by many, others have countered it and also pointed
out that it may be something else.
A health worker who spoke to The Cable said there is a high level of
suspicion that top government officials in the state have been exposed
to the virus.
“Things are in disarray here, and there is no well structured
response to COVID-19. The government is not communicating. They are not
testing, and people are dying. We have had people coming here to
hospital and when they died, they are immediately buried without taking
samples for testing.“This is not a rumour. People are dying. The suspended test centre
was fumigated days ago, and normally it should take 48 hours but as of
today, it has not been reopened. They said this is because of the
shortage of reagents.”
A Kano based Facebook user, Umar Khaleel had also revealed
his grandmother was the 14th person to be taken for burial at a cemetery
in the state as of 10am on Friday April 25. He also disclosed that
another family member died when they got home from his grandmother’s
burial. The family member became the 25th person to be buried that day
at the cemetery.
Nigerian doctor and Twitter user, Dr Olufunmilayo claimed that 640 people have died in Kano state in the last 7 days.
He tweeted;
Kano was quick to split the Emirate. Kano was quick to appoint new
Emirs. Kano was quick to dismiss a sitting Emir. Kano was quick to
exonerate the Governor despite video evidence of stealing money. 640
people have died in 7days. Kano has no plan and is not quick to do
anything.For those who think it is IMPOSSIBLE for Coronavirus to kill 640
people in one week in Kano, Let me remind you of a few things; Kano (and
Nigeria as a whole) has not tested as much as it can/should, 813 people
died today in UK- just today; Please NEVER underestimate this virus.
Mubarak Umar, an Abuja/Kano based journalist also tweeted about over
10 prominent people dying in Kano state in the last 24 hours.
He wrote;
Kano lost the following personalities today: •Prof Ibrahim Ayagi, CEO
of Hassan •Gwarzo School •Alh. Dahiru Rabiu, Former Grand Khadi •Dr.
Musa Umar Gwarzo •Mal Musa Tijjani, former Editor of Triumph Newspaper
•Alh. Adamu Isyaku Dal, former SUBEB Boss •Alh Salisu Lado•Haj Shamsiyya Mustapha •Haj Nene Umma •Alh. Garba Sarki Fagge. •Dr.
Nasiru Maikano Bichi Secretary •Student Affairs NWU. •Prof. Aliyu Umar
Dikko of Physiology Department, BUK •Alh Idi Mai Lemo Sheka •Captain
Abdullahi Gyadi Gyadi Ja’oji Qtrs
President Buhari’s media aide, Bashir Ahmad took to Twitter to
express worry over the recent deaths recorded in his home state. He
tweeted;
I am so worried about Kano. May Allah SWT accept the souls of all our
departed and grant them Jannah. This is indeed an unusual time. Time to
drop all our differences, excuses, come and act sincerely together as
brothers and sisters we are. #PrayForKano
Nigerian opinion contributor on Aljazeera, Gimba Kakanda disclosed
that the Facebook pages of his friends in Kano is now being used as
obituary boards.
He wrote;
The Facebook pages of my friends from Kano have become obituary
boards, and there’s no way to defend that it’s normal. The mortality
rate in Kano seems to have surged, and even though it’s not been linked
to any disease yet, it’s important to determine the causes of these
deaths.
Nigerian veteran actress who is also a health worker in the United
States, Regina Askia had also shared a video days ago, asking “what is
happening in Kano”.
Here are more tweets from other Nigerians;
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