Yanju Uwala
Not fewer than 12 prominent persons have been reported to have died in Kano State within 10 hours on Saturday. The deceased include professors, a newspaper editor, and other professionals.
Reports also gathered revealed that no fewer than 20 persons have died of undisclosed ailments within the past eight days of lockdown.
Among the prominent persons that died in Kano on Saturday were Prof Ibrahim Ayagi, Dr Musa Umar Gwarzo, Alhaji Dahiru Rabiu (former Grand Khadi), Musa Tijjani (Editor of Triumph Newspaper) and Adamu Isyaku Dal, who was a former Executive Secretary of the State Universal Basic Education Board.
Others are Alhaji Salisu Lado, Hajiya Shamsiyya Mustapha, Hajiyaj Nene Umma, Alhaji Garba Sarki Fagge, Dr Nasiru Maikano Bichi, Secretary Student Affairs, North West University, Prof Aliyu Umar Dikko of Physiology Department, Bayero University Kano, and Ado Gwanja’s mother, among others.
Eyewitnesses and undertakers at cemeteries in the state said an unspecified number of people had died and were buried over the past few days.
The spate of deaths in the state has continued to instil fear and confusion among people living in the state.
A dweller, Tijjani Abdullahi, who spoke to our correspondent, called on the state government to investigate the increasing number of deaths in the city in order to address the possible cause of the deaths.
“The state government has concentrated on the fight against coronavirus while people are dying of other ailments in silence. Some even suspected that the people are dying of coronavirus without being detected.”
According to him, most of the recent deaths have been attributed to high blood pressure, malaria, ulcer and even hunger, adding that the dearth of medical doctors to attend to patients in hospitals across the state has become worrisome.
Some people in the state have continued to express concern over the increase in the number of deaths since the state government imposed a total lockdown on the state as a result of the rising cases of coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje on Wednesday denied that there was any strange death in the state, saying, “There is nothing to show that there is unusual frequency of deaths in Kano State.”
The Kano State Taskforce Committee on COVID-19 said the number of confirmed cases was 74 as of Saturday.
The Coordinator of the taskforce committee, Dr Tijjani Hussaini, told our correspondent in Kano on Saturday.
