Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello on Tuesday said the fear of Coronavirus kills faster than the virus itself.
According to him, a virus that has killed 510,909 people worldwide as of Tuesday was an “imported” illness that was “forced on people” to shorten their lifespan.
The governor disagreed with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) over the death of the state Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajanah.
Ajanah died on Sunday at the Gwagwalada COVID-19 Isolation Centre. His interment, which took place at Gudu Cemetery, Abuja, was conducted in compliance with the COVID-19 burial protocol set by the NCDC.
Bello had accused the NCDC of making up numbers that were neither correct nor emanated from the state. Speaking at the third-day prayer for the late Chief Judge on Tuesday, he urged the people not to give in to fear.
He described the COVID-19 as worse than banditry, insurgency and genocide put together, adding that it was artificial, but unfortunately sold to Nigerians.
He said Justice Ajanah died naturally, and urged the people not to attribute his death to anything else as is “being insinuated by certain persons for political and mischief purposes”.
The governor said: “Do not give in to fear and evil of the issues of COVID-19. It is a disease that has been imported, propagated and forced on the people for no just cause.
“Nothing kills faster than fear. I urge you all not to accept cut and paste as COVID-19. It is only out to create fear, panic and pandemic, orchestrated to reduce and shorten the lifespan of the people. Whether medical experts and scientists believe it or not, COVID-19 is out to shorten the lifespans of the people. It is a disease propagated by force for Nigerians to accept.”
Bello described the late Ajanah as a sound jurist and a lover of peace. He prayed Allah to grant him Aljanah Firdaus.
Ajanah’s death followed that of Kogi Customary Court of Appeal, Justice Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga, who died on June 21 after a brief illness.
In May, Kogi State rejected two cases of Coronavirus reported by the NCDC.
“Kogi State till this very moment is COVID-19 free. We have developed the full testing capacity and have conducted hundreds of tests so far which have returned negative,” Commissioner for Health Saka Audu, said.
Kogi alleged a plot to compulsorily report COVID-19 cases in the state.
It barred an NCDC team from conducting COVID-19 tests in the state, insisting that it had conducted over a hundred tests that all turned out negative.
The governor had asked the officials to leave the state or go on a 14-day quarantine.
