The COVID-19 patients being treated at an isolation facility in Gombe State have staged a protest on Tuesday afternoon.
They claimed they were not getting proper care from the government.
The patients, numbering 20, broken from the facility located at Kwadon town, carrying sticks and blocked the Gombe-Biu road, accusing the health personnel of not giving them any drugs for treatment.
According to the protesters, prior to being confirmed to be COVID-19 positive, they were treating other ailments which they said was neglected since their isolation at the health centre over a week ago.
Some of the patients said they were treating other ailments like ulcer.
A female patient said she was treating abscess.
They complained that the medical personnel at the facility were not attending to their ailments.
An eye witness told Daily Trust that the patients are also complaining about poor welfare and feeding arrangements.
Our correspondent observed that medical personnel working at the facility wore only the normal face masks without any Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).
Commenting on the protest, Commissioner of Information and Culture, Alhassan Ibrahim Kwami, said the patients protested because they misunderstood their coronavirus status.
He said all the patients at the Isolation centre are asymptomatic, so there is no need to give them any drug.
He said other reasons for their protest, which included the claim that government was not taking care of their families, are unfounded, “because the government is not responsible for looking after their families while they are in isolation.”
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