JUST IN: Yahaya Bello asks NCDC officials to go on 14-day isolation and one more thing

Governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello, on Thursday asked a delegation of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the ministry of health to go on 14-day isolation or leave the state immediately.

The federal government had sent a delegation to Kogi to assist the state which has not recorded any COVID-19 case to boost its testing capacity.

Kogi and Cross River are the only states which have not recorded any case of the pandemic virus in Nigeria.

Last week, director-general of the NCDC, Chikwe Ihekweazu, had expressed dissatisfaction with the samples collected from the states, saying more tests need to be done.

But the Kogi and Cross River governments had indirectly accused the centre of plotting to infect residents of their states with the virus.

When the team visited him at government house, Lokoja, the state capital, on Thursday night, Bello said the rules laid by the World Health Organisation (WHO) would be strictly followed.

WHO had recommended a 14-day quarantine for travellers after which tests would be conducted.

Leader of the delegation from Abuja, Noah Andrew, had presented a letter tagged: “Deployment of Rapid Response Squad to help in fighting COVID-19”, to the governor, explaining the mission of the health officials in the state.

He said they were there to provide logistics just like they had done in other states in Nigeria.

He said two members of the team would be left behind to help the state and support her efforts of the state government already in place.

“We are here to support the state in shipping swabs and samples and ascertian the preparedness of the state in fighting COVID-19,” he said.

Speaking shortly after receiving the letter, Bello outlined steps taken so far by the state to fight the pandemic disease.

He said that the state is highly experienced in fighting infectious diseases such as Lassa fever and malaria. He also said that the experience has been brought to bear in fighting COVID-19.

He consequently asked that the NCDC officials be subjected to testing and isolated in the state quarantine center or should leave the state immediately.