THE Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has arrested 14 men caught transporting cattle from Adamawa state to Port Harcourt.
According to a press statement signed by Simeon Nwakaudu, Special Assistant to the governor on electronic media, the violators were arrested on Thursday at Rumuigbo in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area on the tip-off from concerned citizens.
One of the transporters, Ahmed Aliyu said they offered a bribe of N1,500 to security officials before they were allowed into Port Harcourt.
Trailer transporting cattle into Port Harcourt
Consequently, Wike ordered the prosecution of the 14 persons by Mobile Court under the Executive Order 6 signed in respect of the declaration of the state lockdown.
He also directed the State Ministry of Health to conduct tests on the 14 persons to ascertain their coronavirus status.
“This fight has nothing to do with individuals. The law must take its course. You are aware of what is happening and then some people want to illegally smuggle persons into the state,” Wike said.
“The Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor are under lockdown and the law must be obeyed. The trailers and the cows will be auctioned tomorrow.
He lamented the compromise of the security officials responsible for enforcing the state lockdown after accepting bribe.
Some of the arrested transporters
“You heard them saying that they gave money to the security agencies before they were allowed to cross the border,” Wike noted.
IBRAHIM Magu, The Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has advised Nigerians to be wary of scammers who have flooded the online space and social media platforms, looking for who to victimise of their fraudulent act.
Magu, through Head, Kaduna Zonal Office of the Commission, Mailafia Yakubu, who spoke on his behalf disclosed this in Kaduna on Thursday.
During a live Hausa radio programme: “Chirin Kasanmu Ayau,” on Kaduna State Media Corporation’s (KSMC), he said, “Any phone call demanding for your bank information, especially your BVN, may be a scam because no bank will ask you for such.”
Additionally, he advised the public to shun online investments, which claim to pay huge percentages within a short period of time, stating that such investments may be fraudulent.
He further charged parents to properly guide their children and wards, on the use of the Internet in the face of lockdown.
Magu admonished parents on close monitoring of their children and wards, on the use of the Internet, as the ongoing stay- at-home may expose them to fraudulent activities.
“Some children will be busy on the Internet, which might lead to more harm than good,” Magu noted.
He also warned fraudsters to desist from criminal activities or be prepared to face the wrath of the law.
THE German government has donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department of the Nigerian Police Force.
The German Deputy Ambassador, Helmut Kulitz handed over the equipments in Abuja on Thursday.
According to Kulitz, the equipments are to aid the NPF’s fight against Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in Nigeria.
He added that the donation is part of a joint three-year programme with aim to strengthen the NPF on capacity building in forensics, processes and procedures for criminal investigation, human rights, as well as strengthening cooperation mechanisms.
“The NPF is at the forefront of ensuring that various measures taken by the government are respected and enforced, in line with Nigerian law and international human rights standards, and therefore needs additional protective equipment.” Kulitz said.
Part of the donated equipments includes, hand sanitisers, disposable coveralls, sanitizing spray, KN95 face masks, handheld digital infra-red temperature readers and disposable latex hand gloves.
The equipments were handed over to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Anthony Michael Ogbizi, represented by DCP Umar Sanda.
The three-year programme with the Nigeria Police Force is sponsored by the German government with € 3 million.
The scheme which started in July 2019 is implemented by German Development Cooporation (GIZ).
The Nigeria Police authorities on Thursday also confirmed the donations in a tweet post on its official Twitter handle.
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the waiver of import duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) for critical medical equipment and supplies.
The Presidency said in a series of tweetson Thursday, that the waiver was for a period of six months in the first instance.
According to the tweets, these waivers are the latest of the fiscal policies measures introduced by Nigerian government to combat the economic implications of the Coronavirus disease (COVID19) pandemic, and to support the strengthening of health infrastructure in Nigeria.
Similarly, Buhari directed the Nigeria Customs Service to ensure critical medical equipment and supplies were given expedited clearance at all times.
The President said this should be done in line with the standard operating procedures for the clearance of humanitarian and relief materials.
He noted that the measures to facilitate the importation of some COVID-19 essential medical supplies were in line with the indicative list recommended by the World Customs Organisation and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
He added that the list was reviewed by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, as well as the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.
Despite being advised to follow the steps of other Africa countries by trying some herbal medicines in treating Coronavirus disease patients, the Federal Government has insisted that no patient will be released to herbal practitioners to test the efficacy of their drugs.
Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health made this known at the daily Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday.
Ehanire said many traditional medicines being suggested as cure for COVID-19 have not been tested and might be toxic.
“On the cure of COVID-19, the traditional medicines that people said they had, we have referred them to Traditional Complementary Medicine Department of the Federal Ministry of Health and to the Nigerian Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development to evaluate.
“But some of them, who have written to me that they have medicines, have asked me to give them 10 patients so that they can cure them.
“But we don’t do it like that in medicine. We don’t have human guinea pigs. Anybody who knows that he or she has a cure must prove to me that it was tried and it worked,” he said.
It will be recalled that last month, the Madagascar’s President, Andry Rajoelina, launched a herbal remedythat he said could prevent and cure patients infected with the virus.
Countries like Tanzania, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, and the Republic of Congo have indicated interest in the herbal remedy.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), has said it did not recommend “self-medication with any medicines as a prevention or cure for COVID-19”.
There is “no short-cuts” to finding effective medication to fight COVID-19, WHO said.
Mr Ehanire said all herbal medicines must go through the research cycle to ensure they are not toxic.
He also said such drugs will first be tested on animals before it can be certified.
“Of course, I am not giving them anyone to go and carry out their tests. That is why they have to go through the research cycle to make sure that their medicines are not toxic and you can also check the efficacy.
“Any kind of medicine can be toxic. The toxicity can be checked and you can also check the efficacy. And as you know, you have to try it on animals such as rats and mouse, before it is certified,” he said.
THE Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS, Commission has distanced itself from reports that the West Africa Health Organisation, WAHO, its health arm has endorsed herbal medicine developed by the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research, Madagascar, for COVID-19 treatment.
In a statement released by the regional body in Abuja, stating that several claims of COVID-19 cures have emerged from different parts of the world, only products shown to be effective through scientific study would be endorsed by the commission.
“We wish to dissociate ECOWAS and its health institution, West Africa Health Organization from this claim and to inform the general public that we have not ordered the said CVO medication,” the statement reads in part.
Madagascar had turned to herbal organics as a cure for the coronavirus disease as President Andry Rajoelina celebrated the herbal drug which contains artemisia at an African Union, AU, gathering.
The Indian Ocean island nation with a population of 26 million people, has 128 recorded cases of COVID-19 with no deaths.
The commission stated that WAHO was collaborating with relevant partners which include the World Health Organisation, Africa Centres for Disease Control as well as national, regional, and international research consortium to promote the scientific search for a cure.
“We are working with member states on some of the medications available for clinical practices and for use on a compassionate basis in selected severe cases.
“Some of the traditional medicine centres of excellence in the ECOWAS region are also currently investigating products of potential efficacy,” the statement reads.
WHO warns against alternative medicine which includes certain herbal therapies and teas for treating or preventing COVID-19, saying there was no evidence they work and some may be unsafe.
Stephen Barrett, a retired psychiatrist who operates Quackwatch, a network of websites about unproven medical therapies says unless there’s a scientific evidence-based approach accompanies the herbal medicine it can’t be accepted as valid.
“It’s the responsibility of those who make a herbal drink to show the scientific evidence that their claims are valid,” he said.
ECOWAS says WAHO remains committed to promoting rational traditional medicine practices and products in the region since it is an institution that has worked consistently for years with the member States to scientifically investigate plant medicines of proven efficacy.
The commission also added that such products were documented in ECOWAS Pharmacopoeia of Traditional Medicines, the second edition of which would be published in the next few weeks.
THE Federal Ministry of Health is set to unveil a herbal formulation for the treatment of cough associated with Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and respiratory infections.
The Ministry said its Department of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM) has conducted research that led to the formulation for the management of cough in COVID-19 and other cough related infections.
The disclosure was contained in a letter dated April 28, and addressed to Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General of National Agency for Foods, Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC), asking the DG for the listing of the medicine as Cov-herbal cough mixture.
According to the document signed by A.M. Abdullahi, Permanent Secretary of the ministry, and sighted by The ICIR, Cov-herbal cough mixture was developed from medicinal plants that are widely used as food materials and medicines.
They included Allium sativa (garlic), Allium cepa (onion), Zingiber Officinale (ginger), Piper Guineense (West Africa Black Pepper) and Andasonia digitate (baobab fruit).
Abdullahi explained that the plants have documented scientific evidence of long use for the management of cough and other respiratory infections, with medicinal properties of mucolytic, antitussive, expectorant, soothing, demulcent, anti-inflammatory and antiviral effects.
He stressed that the Ministry was prepared to “walk-the-talk in the promotion and integration of herbal medicine into the health care delivery system.
“In view of the foregoing and the desire of the ministry to showcase to the public, a product that is 100 percent sourced locally, you are requested to carry out the necessary procedure for listing,” the permanent secretary said.
He concluded saying the ministry would contract the packaging of the product to some identified pharmaceutical companies.
When contacted, the NAFDAC Director-General confirmed to The ICIR in a Whatsapp message that the letter announcing the development of the drug was authentic.
“NAFDAC follows global practices,” Professor Adeyeye told The ICIR.
If this drug is proven effective, Nigeria will follow the footsteps of Madagascar as the second African country to have found treatment for the deadly COVID-19 disease.
Madagascar is leading the race in Africa with its launch of Tambavy COVID-Organics (CVO) after researchers at the Research Institute in Antananarivo, Madagascar (IMRA) conducted the clinical study of the drug. The country as of May 5 reported a total of 149 cases of COVID-19 but no deaths.
The mixture is made from artemisia annua – a plant with proven efficacy in treating malaria – as well as other indigenous herbs is being touted as cure and prevention of the deadly virus which has killed over 256,000 persons globally
Already, African leaders under the umbrella of Africa Union (AU) are in talks with Madagascar to obtain technical data regarding the safety and efficiency of its herbal remedy announced for the reported prevention and treatment of COVID-19 disease.
IN late April, an emotionally-laden audio message went viral on social media. It was more of a Save Our Souls (SOS) call demanding urgent intervention.
Oblivious to many, Selma Ahmed, a 70-year-old grandmother was behind the emergency message. The call made to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) was to report a suspected case in Kano and see how the Centre could intervene. But the efforts yielded no result until the old woman eventually lost her son-in-law to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).
She said she was disappointed that the NCDC official to whom she spoke was deceptive in his response. The official promised to visit her son-in-law, a suspected case of Coronavirus but refused to show up after several calls to the Centre. And the young man died hours later.
She said her son-in-law was earlier treated for typhoid and high fever before his case became worse. Her daughter who was married to the deceased repeatedly called the NCDC, but the agency’s lines were unresponsive.
At some point, concerned individuals offered an alternative number they could use to reach out to the NCDC which they called repeatedly, but no one answered.
Unknown to the family the agency’s office in Kano state was already shut down due to the spread of the infection at the centre.
Ahmed said as a result of their failed attempts, she put an emergency call to the Abuja NCDC office. And the NCDC officials allegedly promised to respond to the situation.
“NCDC said they will go there. Every 30 minutes, I will call the NCDC because the one in Kano were (sic) not responding. He (the operator) was telling me they would soon go there, they would soon go there! When the thing was getting out of hand, I called this man, please tell me the truth, what is happening?
“Then he told me that the NCDC in Kano has been shut down. I said ‘you know they have shut down and you are telling me they will soon go there, why did you continue to play with my intelligence,'” she queried.
All she got in response was “sorry madam.” Frustrated, the old woman later called on the authorities to save her daughter and children who also might have been exposed to coronavirus.
But Ahmed family was not the only victim of NCDC’s negligence.
“NCDC promised to visit my father, we waited over 3 hours but no one showed”
On 30th April, a lady identified as Martha also disclosed on social media how NCDC failed to respond after many calls for help.
Her father, an airline employee was symptomatic of the COIVD-19 disease.
Like the grandmother who lost her son-in-law, Martha also relied on social media to get the NCDC’s attention.
“Please guys I need you to help me retweet this until NCDC sees this. We have been trying to get them [NCDC] to see my dad he is an airline staff and he is having coronavirus symptoms,” says Marteetarh
Martha later reported on Twitter that she finally got through to NCDC, but the officials did not show up.
Seeing the tweet which had garnered so much reaction on the social media, Kano State Ministry of Health @KNSMOH advised she call the state COVID-19 emergency number.
The state authority proceeded to share with her the hotline numbers; 0909-399-5333, 0909-399-5444 and 0800-COVIDKN.
“Please do call one of the above hotlines and explain your case they will surely respond…..we pray with you,” the officials tweeted.
But in her response, her family had earlier placed a call to the state health authorities yet no one showed up, three hours after they promised to visit.
“We called in the morning, they said they were coming 3 hours later but they didn’t show up.”
On 2nd April, she announced that the NCDC eventually reached out to her family. That was about two days after.
NCDC COVID 19 Data as of 05 May 2020 Source: NCDC
Crown of Wealth Photo Source: Twitter
I had similar unpleasant experience – I was told to visit the hospital
Also narrating his experience, a man identified as @a_Crownofwealth on social media said he arrived the country from the United States on 1st March, but nine days after, he started developing symptoms of COVID-19.
According to him, the ailment which started with a headache became worse such that he had pains at his lungs and could not take a deep breath.
“NCDC did the same thing to me. I came back from USA on March 1st. On March 10th. I started seeing symptoms, I could not sleep for seven days straight, with headache, pain in my neck, geld, and so on. I called Osogbo state line, I was told to go to the hospital.
“… I can’t even take a deep breath. Then I had palpitations in my heart. Felt stiffness in my back and neck.”
Luckily, he later tested negative after visiting the hospital. “I have never taken medications like this in my entire life. I have been treating every symptom that comes with it,” he noted.
They did exactly the same to me
In Lagos state, there are a number of reported cases which went viral. Among them is a man identified as @oluwastoner1 on social media. He said after observing the symptoms, he went on self-isolation for 14 days, stressing that he denied his roommates access to his room for the period and was conscious not to spread the disease.
“They did exactly the same thing to me,” Oluwastoner said.
Narrating his experience, he shared how he further developed a sore throat, high temperature, headache and mild difficulty in breathing.
“NCDC told me to treat myself for cold flu but the symptoms persisted. I called severally they refused to come….”
Amidst the increasing figure of confirmed cases of the disease nationwide, the experiences mentioned above are among cases of delayed response by NCDC. There are several under-reported suspected cases.
Findings by The ICIR revealed that once the NCDC becomes unresponsive, relatives of the suspected cases or the victims would resort to tagging personal handles of social media influentials such as @UtohPaul and Adetutu Balogun @Tutsy.
A check on their timelines, for instance, shows that Paul has over 10, 000 followers while Balogun has garnered more than 175, 000 followers.
Both persons have been consistent in dishing out COVID-19 preventive measures as well as vital summary information from the NCDC. According to Paul, the duo have been able to intervene in over 150 cases across the country.
“@Tutsy22 and I are not frontline workers but in the last five weeks, we have intervened in over 150 different cases nationwide. I personally sleep less than three hours at night and try to catch sleep during the day at any given opportunity. We do it for you but we also need your cooperation,” Paul stated on Tuesday.
Nigerians have continued to express worry over delayed response time from the (NCDC), each time a suspected case is reported.
They criticised the centre officials of being unresponsive which had needlessly caused many deaths, especially in Kano state.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria, however, NCDC has been at the forefront of the global pandemic, managing the confirmed cases and publishing vital national guidelines required to reduce the virus spread.
It has successfully formulated preventive measures, safety procedures and gradually expanded the figure of testing centres nationwide to 15.
The Centre has also consistently updated Nigerians on latest developments on the pandemic, via the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
As of 5th May, 2950 confirmed cases of the virus has been recorded in the country, 98 deaths while 481 have been discharged.
Lagos has the highest number of cases with 1,226 cases, followed by Kano with 397, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 307 and Borno State 106.
These constant updates by the NCDC have received commendations from various quarters, but people are concerned still about the agency’s delayed response time.
The calls are enormous but there are alternatives – NCDC
The ICIR tried to reach Emeka Oguanuo, the NCDC Spokesperson, but he did not respond to a text message sent to him.
However, Dr. Chinwe Ochu, Head of Prevention, Programmes and Knowledge Management said there are 15 areas where COVID-19 could be tested in the country. She said though the public has no right to visit the test centres, they could contact the NCDC if they developed symptoms of the virus.
She said the NCDC has also facilitated the establishment of emergency operation centres at the state, engaged contact tracers and those who work at the call centre.
In Lagos, Kano and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), for instance, she disclosed during a television broadcast on the Nigerian Television Authority that active case search had commenced into communities, especially those settlements considered more exposed to the COVID-19 disease.
She explained that anyone who develops symptoms such as cough, fever, sore throat, running nose, difficulty in breathing, should promptly call any of the provided hotlines stressing that arrangements would be made by the state team to collect such samples for testing.
While reacting to the issue of untimely response to emergency calls from suspected cases, she said there are various phone lines the public could call to reach out to the centre but described the calls as ‘enormous’.
According to her, whenever calls are made to the centre and no one answers, the public should remain persistent until they get a response.
“…we receive calls from all the states in the federation. Keep calling, definitely, you will get through but most importantly, there are call centres at the state levels, that may be free which you could call, and get a quicker response than the national line.”
She, however, advised the public to call state lines, as it is easier to reach. Aside from the toll-free number 0800-9700-0010, the NCDC, she noted could be reached via Whatsapp +234-708-711-0839 and text messages at +234-809-955-5577 all available on the official website.
AS cases of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) continue to increase in Nigeria, health workers on Thursday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently approve the payment of their outstanding salaries.
The medical officials, under the umbrella body of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), said since 2018, the federal government has refused to pay their outstanding salaries for the month of April and May when the union went on demonstration.
Dr. Murtala Umar, JOHESU Chairman in Kano State said the government need to effect the payment of their outstanding because many health workers and their families are currently at risk of contracting the virus.
In June 2018, Prof. Isaac Adewole, former Minister of Health came up with the ‘No Work No Pay’ rule in a reference letter DHS/166/T2/198 following the nationwide strike action by JOHESU.
Speaking during Sunrise, a ChannelsTV programme, Umar said the government has withheld the salaries of their members when they went on strike in 2018, whereas the ASUU had already got outstanding salaries for January and February.
“We just want the government to be fair to all workers,” he said
Though he applauded the President for recognising the health workers with disclosed plans to offer supports, he said the best time to assist the health workers should be now that they are confronted with the global pandemic.
Umar said many health workers had treated patients whom they did not know tested positive to coronavirus. Hence, many of them contracted the virus
“ A lot them (health workers) are still waiting for their results… We are praying they should be negative,” Umar added.
A FACEBOOK post has been circulating on social media stating that the United States, US, government had made an announcement to grant 5,000 Nigerian passport holders free work visas for two years.
The claim is however false as the Nigerian embassy in the US has dissociated itself from the post.
The Facebook account impersonating the Nigerian embassy with the name “Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, America,” and with 2,748 followers had on April 25, posted on its Facebook wall that the US was granting 5,000 American work visas to Nigerians for two years.
The phone number displayed on the Facebook page is +1 202-516-4277, as Nigerians who had been denied a visa in the past were urged to participate and abide by the guidelines by sending their passport biodata page for verification.
“You must not write any notes or attach any other credentials while sending your passport biodata page. No introduction is required. Therefore, only your passport must be submitted via our official email info@nigeriaembassyusa.org and not through any other medium,” a section of the message reads.
Checks by The ICIR showed that the Nigerian embassy on April 27, had released a signed statement debunking the claim and also clarifying that the embassy does not carry out engagements on Facebook.
“It has become imperative to set the record straight and inform the general public that the Embassy does not operate a Facebook account page. Thus, the Embassy could not have been mandated to collect any passports from Nigerian citizens on behalf of the US government. This is a fallacy,” the statement reads.
The Nigerian Embassy in Washington D.C also described the post as a “fabricated Facebook announcement” stating that there was no receipt of correspondence between the United States Presidential Task Force Briefing on COVID – 19 and Economic Reform and the Nigerian Embassy.
Also in another development, President Donald Trump of the US on April 22, in a Twitter post said he will sign an executive order to temporarily suspend all immigration to the US because of the coronavirus.
In March, the US suspended almost all visa processing, including for immigrants, because of the pandemic.
While emergency powers have been used to expel thousands of undocumented migrants from the US citing reasons associated with the pandemic. The public health measure allows officials to override immigration laws and expediting removal processes.
Therefore, the claim that America would issue e -visas to 5,000 Nigerians is false as the US government is not keen on receiving immigrants into the country anytime soon.
