The 150 strange deaths in Azare are unrelated to COVID-19, Bauchi Gov, Bala Mohammed insists
The governor of Bauchi state, Bala Mohammed has confirmed that 150 persons have died in Azare, the headquarters of Katagum Local Government Area of the state in the past 30 days. He made the disclosure during a press briefing at the Government House on Sunday where he insisted that there was no proof that these deaths were related to COVID-19. The high number of death, he said, was from hypertension and other related diseases.
According to Premium Times and other sources, Mohammed made the clarification after some residents of Azare raised an alarm on how people were dropping dead in massive numbers in the community. The rumour was escalated by the former House of Reps member from Katagum, Ibrahim Baba who claimed in an SOS letter to President Buhari that up to 300 persons have been buried in a part of Bauchi State after dying of COVID-19 related complications.
The ex-lawmaker alleged that the situation was dire in the letter titled ‘Massive COVID-19 outbreak in Azare: Request for urgent action’, which circulated on the social media last week.
But speaking to journalists on Sunday, ThisDay reports that Governor Mohammed denied the claim by stating that about 150 people had died so far according to a report by a committee set up to investigate the strange deaths.
“We have reviewed the rumour about Azare that it has become a morgue. It’s not true; we have gotten the statistics of the death in the last 30 days,” the governor said.
“About 150 died in Azare, an average of about eight death per day and most of them we have found the cause to arising from hypertension and other related diseases.
“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.”
The governor noted that he had directed the Deputy Governor, Baba Tela to relocate to Katagum area to properly coordinate a response that will enable the state government to establish the actual number of people who contracted the disease.
Mohammed went on to declare a 10-day 24-hour curfew in Katagum, Giade, and Zaki local government areas as a precautionary measure.
