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The Kogi State Government has once again reject the third case of coronavirus confirmed by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in the state.
MERIDIAN SPY reports the NCDC on Wednesday night confirmed a case in the state, out of the 348 new cases recorded in the country.
But Kogi State Commissioner for Health, Dr Saka Haruna Audu, in a facebook post, said no sample was sent to the NCDC that could warrant a third case and the state government was not aware of the fresh case.
“The purported New Case: We are not aware of who the patient is, where and when the Test was conducted! No sample sent from KG,” said Audu.
Recall the Kogi government, week ago, rejected the first two cases confirmed by NCDC, describing the federal health agency’s reports as “fictitious”, insisting that the state is COVID-19 free.
“Kogi State till this very moment is COVID-19 free. We have developed the full testing capacity and have conducted hundreds of tests so far which have returned negative,” the Kogi health commissioner had said.
“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. Any attempt to force us to announce a case of COVID-19 will be vehemently rejected.”
Former Kogi West Senate representative, Senator Dino Melaye had objected to the state government’s claim. “I want to announce that the COVID-19 case in Kogi is real and authentic and cannot understand why any responsible government will want to deny and invariably kill her citizens,” Senator Melaye said.
“One of the cases is from Kabba and the victim is personally known to me. I cannot be part of those who will play politics with the lives of my people.”
The state Governor, Yahaya Bello however declared a two-week lockdown in the Kabba Local Government Area of the state to allow for contact tracing.
Governor Bello said although the state government had a reservation about the NCDC declaration concerning the disease, it locked down the area as a proactive step in case of eventualities.
