Bauchi: 150 not 300 died in Azare — Gov Bala

The Governor of Bauchi State Bala Mohammed has said 150 and not 300 people  died in the last 30 days as reported in the media.

It was reported that 300 people died in Azare in Bauchi State from a yet to be identified ailment.

The Governor who made the statement while addressing the press on Sunday said, “it’s 150 people that have died in the last 30 days, and not 300 people as reported in the media.”

Bala also imposed a total lockdown on three Local Government Areas in the state.

He said  “Total lockdown on the 3 LGAs is necessary; we just got result of about 66 cases, 42 of which were from Azare alone. And we have found out that most of the cases from Azare is as a result of community transmission; people are not adhering to guidelines in that axis, because there have been transaction going on between the people of Azare and Kano were the covid-19 pandemic is high.”

Reports over the number of deaths in Azare generated pandemonium as a former member of the House Representatives from Bauchi State, Ibrahim Mohammed Baba gave a report on it in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari requesting urgent action on what he called  “massive outbreak of COVID-19 that claimed many lives in Azare”.

But the Bauchi State Deputy Governor, who is also the chairman of the state’s taskforce on COVID-19 and lassa fever, Senator Bala Tela, debunked the report of mass deaths, saying the number was exaggerated.

The deputy governor who addressed newsmen at Government House in Bauchi said, “I don’t know the exact number of casualties, but what I have gathered is that about six persons died every day for a period of seven days.”

A resident of Azare, Shehu Baba Azare, said the deaths in the last two weeks was worrisome because in the Azare cemetery,  301 bodies were buried in 14 days.

“The death rate in Azare is unusual because a total of 301 was registered at the cemetery within 14 days and the dead were from 60 years and above but we don’t know the cause so far,” he said.

A village heads in Azare who pleaded anonymity told Daily Trust on Sunday that the report of mass deaths was not true, saying, “What I know is that many people have died in the town but the issue of mass death is not true.”