Governor Bello imposes lockdown across Kabba/Bunu LGA finally admitting virus is in Kogi State

GOVERNOR Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has imposed a total lockdown on the Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area in response to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in the locality after two people were diagnosed as Covid-19 positive.

Up until now, Governor Belo had claimed that Kogi State was free of coronavirus and as such did not need isolation centres or a lockdown. Even when Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) officials visited the state, they left in frustration saying the state government did not cooperate with them.

Over the last week, however, there have been two confirmed cases in the Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area. According to the NCDC, the chief imam of Kabba and his son, tested positive for the virus.

In a final admission that the state is no longer coronavirus-free, Governor Bello said the state was forced to impose the lockdown as the situation has snowballed into a political one. With this development, Kogi becomes the 35th state in Nigeria to record instances of the virus, leaving just Cross River State unaffected.

Earlier today, Governor Bello said that effective from midnight tomorrow, all the communities from the local government area where the patients reside should stay indoors permanently for two weeks. He also said all doctors who have contacts with the patients be ordered to go into self-isolation.

However, the governor maintained that the state is still free from the virus until the centre claims are verified. Governor Bello's stance has been condemned by the Nigerian Medical Association, which has accused him of playing politics with the virus.