The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria has risen to 81, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control said on Friday night. The NCDC confirmed 11 new cases. Eight of the cases were discovered in Lagos, while two were discovered in Enugu and one in Edo State.
“As at 11:55pm 27th March, there are 81 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria. 3 have been discharged with 1 death,” NCDC tweeted. The tweet came after the NCDC earlier announced the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria had risen to 70, with two of the cases discovered in Oyo State while the remaining three were recorded in Abuja.
As the number of cases continues to rise, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) said it would be forced to impose a curfew on the city if traders declined to vacate markets and allow the authority to carry out fumigation as part of measures to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in the nation’s capital, Abuja. The FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, issued the threat yesterday during an awareness campaign at Gwarinpa Market.
She said FCT authorities proposed to fumigate the major markets, parks and religious centres in the city centre and other satellite towns in the territory to mitigate the spread of the dreaded Coronavirus and to uphold the social distancing rule in market places and other social or religious gatherings across the territory. The minister said she called the Commissioner of Police to ensure that the enforcement team was allowed to do enforcement immediately as some people refused to quit the market, when the team that was to fumigate the market arrived.
“If this situation continues, we will be forced to impose a curfew that is why I came out myself to monitor and appeal to their conscience to vacate the market especially those not selling food stuffs and other essential commodities. I am personally out to see things for myself,” Aliyu said.
The minister, who spoke mainly in pidgin and Hausa languages, appealed to citizens and residents to comply with the preventive measures outlined by government and vacate the market to make job easier for government. She appealed to the traders to stay at home for the period of fumigation as inhaling the substances used in fumigating the market could be hazardous to their health. “Government is aware of the economic situation and it is not in our best interest to destroy your goods. Please stay at home and as a mother, I feel for you,” Aliyu said.
The threat to shut down the capital came as the Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare, announced that all National Youth Service Corps orientation camps and four stadia in the country would be used as isolation centres. “Mr. President has approved for the Ministry of Youth and Sports to open and make available the stadiums in Surulere Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, and Kaduna, as well as our NYSC camps nationwide for use as isolation centers as they are needed,” Dare said on Twitter on Friday. Dare said medical personnel and authorities will determine the appropriate areas of usage if and when necessary. “Our prayers are that Nigeria never gets to this level – but we must all be prepared to support the system,” he said.
Also, the Defence Headquarters has concluded plans to recall its retired medical personnel back on active duty to help deal with the response to the Coronavirus pandemic. The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the preparedness of the military to support the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Enenche disclosed that military had deployed military personnel to assist Ministries Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government through provision of land, maritime and air assets, for transportation of emergency cases and medical supplies. He added that the military authorities had also concluded plans to recall to complement those in active service in support of the government effort.
According to him, the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) has developed a ”Two-Pronged” approach to fight the pandemic, namely; the medical and security approaches. Sequell to the on-going fight against the spread of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the Federal Government of Nigeria, the AFN has put measures in place to aid the civil authorities. As you may be aware, Section 217 (2) c of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), empowers the Military to act in aid of civil authority. Consequently, a committee was constituted at the Defence Headquarters to ensure that the AFN provides the necessary support to the Federal Government of Nigeria, at this period.
“It is mainly a non-kinetic military operation with major features of Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC) activities. Equally, it is in line with the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) lines of conducting contemporary military operations in Nigeria,” he said. On security related support, Enenche said that the armed forces would activate its disaster response units across the country in conjunction with National Emergency Management Agency.
He explained that those units would be responsible for security management of emergencies other than medicals. The Coordinator also urged the public to disregard the news of deployment of military by the government to enforce a lockdown, describing it as fake news. He added that, it was the duty of the police to carry-out such function should there be any lockdown and the need to enforce such orders.
“The Defence Headquarters hereby assures the general public of its total commitment to the human security effort of the Federal Government of Nigeria,” he said.
