Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed has revealed that about 150 people died in the last 30 days in Azare, Katagum local government area of the state.
Ibrahim Baba, a former house of representatives member, had written a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, on May 8, 2020, alleging that over 100 people died within one week in Azare due to massive outbreak of coronavirus.
However, during a press briefing on Sunday, Governor Mohammed dismissed the ex-lawmaker’s claim, saying 100 people died within a month and it’s not as a result of COVID-19.
According to him, hypertension and other related diseases were responsible for some of the deaths, not coronavirus.
“We have reviewed the rumour about Azare that it has become a morgue. It’s not true. We have gotten the statistics of the deaths in the last 30 days.
“About 150 died in Azare, an average of about 8 deaths per day and most of them we have found the cause to arise from hypertension and other related diseases,” he said.
“It’s not true that people are falling and dying in Azare. Even if that is the situation, we are moving there as a government.”
He also declared a total lockdown on Katagum, Giade and Zaki local government areas of the state, as part of efforts to limit the community transmission of COVID-19 infections.
Mohammed said the deputy governor had been directed to relocate to Katagum axis in order to ensure effective coordination of the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The lockdown in the three LGAs will take effect from May 12 and last for 10 days.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Bauchi State currently has 181 cases of coronavirus disease that has infected 4,399 persons in Nigeria.
