Yobe

COVID-19: Nobody died in Yobe – Buni

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Jimi Anjolaoluwa – Abuja

Yobe state governor, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni on Thursday debunked an online report alleging Covid-19 related deaths in the state. He said no such case was recorded in the state.

The governor was on Wednesday accused by an online platform of abandoning the state and relocating to Abuja while the state is being ravaged by Covid-19 related deaths.

In a statement in Abuja on Thursday, the governor through his Director General Press and Media Affairs to Yobe state governor, Mamman Mohammed, faulted the allegations and debunked the claim of Covid-19 related deaths in the state.

Faulting the allegations, the governor said his state was the first in the country to voluntarily submit a suspected case of COVID-19 for test, which was tested negative, adding that aside from the index case that tested positive in 30th April, “there is no officially declared COVID-19 related death” in the state.

The statement reads in part: “Our attention has been drawn to an online report alleging COVID-19 related deaths in Yobe state. The report also claimed that His Excellency, Governor Mai Mala Buni was in Abuja while his people were dying.

“For the records, Yobe state was the very first state in Nigeria to voluntarily submit a suspected case of COVID-19 for test. Thank God, it was negative.

“The state had in spite of non existing case, constituted a COVID-19 committee, established three isolation centers equipped with ventilators and all necessary equipment.

“Yobe recorded its first case just last week 30th April, 2020 and to date, there is no officially declared COVID-19 related death.

Exonerating the governor from the allegation of abandoning the state for Abuja, the statement recounted, “His Excellency, Governor Mai Mala Buni, had not travelled out of the state for six weeks until when President Buhari invited him to Abuja to discuss security matters where he spent just three days and had since been back. Therefore, he was not outside the state nor cordinatinating the affairs of the state from Abuja as claimed”.

The statement maintained that with an open door policy of Gov. Buni’s administration, it expected of newsmen to adhere strictly to the tenents of the profession by always cross checking their facts and reflecting the position of all concerned and for the balancing of their stories, which is the hallmark of journalism practice.

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