68 Buried In Three Days In Yobe As Strange Deaths Continue To Ravage North

The spectre of strange deaths that’s beleaguered some northern states for weeks on end has spread its tentacle to Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe state.

The residents of the state were thrown into trepidation after fears that some persons may have died from COVID-19 complications.

The deaths were recorded in the commercial town of Potiskum, with at least 68 bodies buried in three days.

Strange deaths have been recorded in Kano, Jigawa and Bauchi states.

Commissioner for Health Mohammed Lawan Gana, who doubles as the Vice Chairman of the State Committee on the Prevention and Control of COVID-19, said it could not be concluded that the deaths were related to the current virulent infection and could not as well be refuted as having no link with the virus.

Gana, however, said the government was investigating the causes of the strange deaths.

Also read: Panic In Kano As COVID-19-Related Deaths Ravage Sabon Gari Community

He disclosed that the government had dispatched a team of health personnel to conduct verbal autopsy, a process must be meticulous and systematic to guard against mistakes.

The commissioner said: “These rumors happened. People die due to various causes. We may not say it is coronavirus. When this kind of thing happens. We have our standard ways of doing things. We have sent out a team to go to the local government to establish that these deaths are happening and the causes.

“But in addition to that, we have built in intervention, to fish out active case files. We want people to come to the health facilities and not to fear to come. We call on the media to help us solve the problem not to escalate any negative rumours.”

Similarly, workers at the graveyards where these bodies were buried had expressed concern over the sudden and surreal upsurge in dead bodies that were interred in different graveyards across the town.

“Oga, we don’t know why people are dying like this. We too want to know what the problem is but we don’t know. We want the government to find out and tell us what is happening” The Nation quoted one of  workers at the graveyard to have said

“But it is only journalists that are calling us and asking us questions. No government official has come to the grave yard to ask us anything.”

According to him, the number of deaths continued to rise as more people were being buried at the grave yards in Potiskum in the last three days, stating that his men buried about 68 bodies in the last three days at various graveyards.

He said the Mamman Ali grave yard on Gashua Road received 48 bodies for burial in the last three days.

The attendant gave the details of some of the graveyards and the bodies buried in them as NEPA (seven); Garin Jaji eight); Gishua Dabua (six) and Bayin Asibiti (four) besides the 10 graves dug by attendants at the Mamman Ali Cemetery..