TheCable

The Yobe government says nobody has died of COVID-19 complications in the state.

The state government said this in reaction to reports that a number of people have died of the disease in the state.

In a statement on Thursday, Mamman Mohammed, media aide of Mai Mala Buni, the state governor, said Yobe only recorded its first COVID-19 case last week.

Mohammed also debunked claims that Buni abandoned the state for Abuja, saying the governor was only in the nation’s capital at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari.

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

“The state in spite of a 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.

“Secondly, 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 coordinating the affairs of the state from Abuja as claimed.

“This administration maintains an open door policy, we therefore call on the media to always contact the state government to clarify every issue before going to the press.”

So far, Yobe has 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19.