Culled from www.judicialsketch.com By Yusuf Abdul Salam
People in Kano State have expressed shock at the response of the state government to the news of unprecedented incidences of death in the state capital, saying the state ministry of health was insincere and irresponsible.
The ministry took to its Twitter handle on Monday to dispel the news as
“rumour” and asking people to disregard, adding that “the media and rumour
mongers have been trying their best in making us dispense energy in warding
them off. This particular rumor has been investigated and found to be untrue so
must be dispelled..”
But the ministry’s position was immediately called out on the same platform, as
citizens expressed their disagreement and disappointment to the way it reacted.
One Abdulazzez Musa said “See Government response why is itthat our Government officials are full of lies and propaganda.. This ur lies can not stop people from dying when their time reach and it’s very true that people are dying in Kano within these days.. Shameless people who doesn’t fear Allah.”
Mukhtar Y. Buharista said “it’s not rumor but true. I’m an eye witness of this. My uncle died today and buried in Bulukiya graveyard. I while entering the graveyard, we saw many different people who buried their loved ones…. “
Abdulbaseer swore by Allah that the news was beyond rumour. “Wallah tallah billah the mass death is not a rumor…” he said.
Yakub Adam Chedi had an advise for the authorities when he said “Please review your finds to ascertain the real facts, and do the needful before it’s too late.”
Zunnurain jnr twitted that “It’s not rumor but true. People are dying and you are here telling us is not true. Go to Dan-dolo and Kara graveyards, you will see newly buried graves there.”
Safe for a few who maintained some levels of neutrality, the ministry received what a public relations expert called “low PR point” on the social media.
Authorities in Kano later on Monday came out to say they were unable to immediately verify the veracity of the claim but that investigations are underway to verify and possibly understand the cause(s) of the deaths.
Meanwhile, a private legal practitioner in the state, Usman Umar Fari, has registered his disagreement with the director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases Control at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Professor Isa Abubakar who said the information regarding the rise in incidences of deaths “emanated from speculations, not from experts in any field related to Medicine.”
But Fari said “I don’t think the professor was considerate. He may make his statement if a particular ailment was said to be the cause of the deaths. But for him to say there was no such deaths, I think he was wrong, more so when the information was confirmed by the people working at cemeteries in the metropolis. Secondly, the people living in the metropolis are quite aware of the rising number of mortality
