Barely a week ago, it was brought to public knowledge a sordid tale of how kano state witnessed a plethora of deaths within the space of three days, which put the number of people buried in different cemeteries in the Kano metropolis and suburbs at a frightening 180. The information went viral, featuring prominently in major dailies and reputable online media outfits.
The reaction of the state government first was that of an entity willing to take responsibility for what happened in its domain, a subtle admission that the reports are true. But in a bizarre twist of évent, the state government, having probably seen the damage such report might have on the state, in an infantile attempt to save face, released a terse statement denying the occurrence of such event and even attributed the report to the work of rabble-rousers and mischief makers and traducers of the state government. Never mind that these reports are corroborated by accounts of residents in the state and undertakers who doubled as grave diggers at the cemeteries.
The undertakers expressed concerns and fears over the number of people being buried daily during that period, an incident that they said was a strange one. A sharp contrast from what obtained before confirmation of the virulent COVID-19 in the state. The feelers we got later was that these deaths were not related to COVID-19.
When one looks at the situation in Kano then you have the feeling that things are not going well in the ancient state, an indictment on the government of governor Abdullah Ganduje and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, one begins to call to question the compétence of the state government and NCDC in handling COVID-19 and other medical emergencies in the state.
In the findings embarked on by Eko Hot Blog, the startling revelation of how the Kano government and NCDC have left residents to their fates was made.
Also read: An erratic governor and a state beleaguered by surreal deaths
A woman in her 70s who live in Abuja who spoke to Eko Hot Blog narrated how the NCDC and Kano government officials ignored her son-in-law who showed palpable signs of COVID-19, leaving him to die untimely.
The woman who identified herself as sadma Ahmed said she received a call from her daughter who lives in Kano with her husband and children telling her that her son-in-law has been seriously indisposed since Monday, she said her daughter told her that her son-in-law had typhoid fever.
Doubting the veracity of her diagnosis, sadma asked her daughter if she was sure the ailment was typhoid fever and not the dreaded COVID-19 to which the daughter answered in the affirmative saying she had given him some drugs and he’s responding to treatment.
To keep up with the situation things, Sadma said she called her daughter the following day to know how her son-in-law was faring and the daughter said he was getting better. But things took a different turn on Wednesday when Sadma called her daughter again only to be told that her son-in-law medical condition had deteriorated drastically as he could no longer talk and his breathing had become heavy. This confirmed the fears of Sadma who believed from the get-go that her son-in-law was battling the virulent COVID-19 infection.
She then told her daughter to rush him to the hospital and asked if she had called NCDC, she said she had called the NCDC but all the lines dedicated to COVID-19 were not available, she explained that she was given another phone number to call but all calls put through to the line went unanswered.
Sadma then swung into action and called the NCDC in Abuja and they allayed her fears telling her they would call NCDC in Kano and they would get back to her.
“They asked me where he is and I told them he has been taken to a private hospital called the international hospital and they admitted him there and put him on oxygen, but after about one hour another doctor came and told them to take him to Mallam Aminu Kano hospital because he is not responding to the oxygen,” Sadma Told Eko Hot Blog
Sadma said the claim of not responding to treatment was not hinged on medical assertions but a pretext to have his son-in-law taken away from the hospital as the hospital did not want anything to do with him.
“on getting to Mallam Aminu Kano hospital, he was placed on oxygen again and I called NCDC in Abuja, I asked them how far, have the people started going because they have dropped them from the international hospital and they have go (sic) to Mallam Aminu Kano hospital, and he said they would go there. Every thirty minutes I will be calling the NCDC in Abuja because the ones in Kano are not responding, he will be telling me they will soon go there” Sadma lamented.
NCDC in Kano Shut down.
Sadma said it was not until after vehement probing and pestering that the NCDC official in Abuja came clean and opened up to her about the true situation of things. He told her that Kano NCDC has been shut down. Sadma who felt taken for a fool asked the official why he was lying all this time and playing with her intelligence.
“When the thing was getting out of hand I asked the man to tell me the truth, what’s happening, the man now told me they have been shut down. When you know they have been shut down why did you keep telling me they will go there, they will go there, why did you keep playing with my intelligence, he said sorry ma. I said okay” Sadma said
Sadma then grabbed the bull by the horn and took her predicament to the media, to express her grievances and narrate her ordeal. She said her son-in-law gave up the ghost after two hours of being admitted to Aminu Kano hospital. Sadma accused the Kano government and NCDC in the state of Culpability in her son-in-law’s death.
“I called Ray power, I was live on Ray power around 4 o’clock. My son-in-law died after two hours he was admitted to Aminu Kano. I’m holding the Kano government and NCDC in Kano responsible for the death of my son-in-law and now what his paining me most that my heart is broken to pieces for is what will happen to my daughter and grandchildren, what will happen to them when there’s no NCDC in kano” the Padma said in a grieving tone of uncertainty.
Sadma appealed to the federal government and well-meaning Nigeria Nigerians to come to her aid so that her daughter and grandchildren will not suffer the same misfortune that befell her son-in-law. Sadma who reiterated the fragility of her senile age said she did not want her daughter and grandchildren to die in Kano, while at the same time harping on the absence of the NCDC in Kano.
She also called on FCT minister and NCDC in Abuja and other persons who have the clout to make things happen to assist her so that her daughter and grandchildren can be tested
Listen to the audio file of the woman’s lamentation below: