Melaye counters Kogi govt, says he knows a patient infected with COVID-19

Senator Dino Melaye has countered the position by the government of Kogi State which insisted that the state remained free of COVID-19, by claiming that he knows one of the patients infected with the virus in the state.

Melaye made the claim in a statement on Saturday following the face-off between the Kogi State government and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), after the agency announced two cases of the virus in the state.

The politician insisted that there are indeed COVID-19 cases in Kogi State and advised the state government to come down from its imaginary high horse and start contact tracing to help curtail the spread.

“One of the cases is from Kabba and the victim is personally known to me. I cannot be part of those who will play politics with the lives of my people.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Kogi govt accuses NCDC of fraud, says it doesn’t trust agency’s credbility

“Kogi State government must come down from her imaginary high horse and start contact tracing to help curtail the spread,” Melaye’s statement read in part.

In a statement on Thursday morning, the Kogi State Commissioner of Health, Saka Haruna Audu rejected the NCDC report of two cases of COVID-19 in the state.

He said Kogi State government had developed “full testing capacity” and “conducted hundreds of tests” which returned negative.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now