…repatriates 788 Almajiris
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State on Sunday in Lafia announced the closure of the state’s House of Assembly following the death of a lawmaker as a result of COVID-19.
Sule, while briefing newsmen, said the closure would enable the state government trace all the contacts the dead lawmaker had in recent times.
“The Speaker and all members of the Assembly have agreed to be isolated and their samples have been taken for COVID-19 test,’’ the governor said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the victim, who was the first casualty from the novel virus in the state, died on Thursday in Keffi.
Sule explained that the victim took ill and was admitted at the Federal Medical Centre in Keffi, where his sample was collected, having shown symptoms of COVID-19.
“Before the result could return, the member had died and his remains buried according to Islamic rights in Nasarawa Local Government Area.
“But when his result came out on Saturday, it was positive. Unfortunately, all those who attended the burial did so not knowing his status.
“The member participated in all the Assembly sittings, a development which has complicated our situation,” he said.
The governor said the state currently has recorded eight active COVID-19 cases and one death from the virus.
Meanwhile, about 788 almajiris from Nasarawa State have been repatriated to their various homes.
The Governor of Nasarawa State, Mr Abdullahi Sule, while speaking with journalists on the COVID-19 pandemic on Sunday, said, “We have been campaigning against it and now this COVID-19 has brought even a higher risks that these children roaming the streets could come across someone who is already an infected persons and by the time he winds down his window and give them what they call the support, at the end of the day he may infect these innocent children.”
The state Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs Halima Jabiru, gave the breakdown of those repatriated.
“We are taking them to five states. We have Jigawa, 244; Kaduna 199; Plateau 51; Gombe 42; and Taraba, 38,” she stated.
