The Ogun State Government has urged residents of the state to remain calm following the reported death of a returnee from Cotonou, Benin Republic, suspected to be a COVID-19 patient in Abeokuta on Tuesday.
Emmanuel Ojo, Senior Special Assistant to Governor Dapo Abiodun on New Media, made the plea in a statement on Tuesday in Abeokuta.
Ojo said the state government was on top of the situation.
He was reacting to a report on a suspected COVID-19 related patient found dead in Abeokuta, shortly after he arrived in the town.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the tragic development was said to have heightened the fear of residents of the area, calling on the state government to urgently disinfect the area.
The scene, captured in a video that had since gone viral in the social media, showed a friend to the deceased holding on to the lifeless body of his friend he identified as Alex.
Ojo assured the people that the state government was already aware of the ugly incident, and would “act responsibly to mitigate the effect of the incident”.
He said: “This is to reassure the general Ogun State public, especially residents of Abeokuta, to remain calm, as regards the trending video of a Cotonou returnee (male) opposite GTBank, around Simeon Adebo Library, Kuto.
“I have contacted the appropriate authorities, including the state Commissioner for Health, and they are on top of the situation.
“The returnee and the second male with him will be immediately picked up.
“The tracing of all their contacts will begin as treatment is given at the closest Isolation Centre in the state.”
Ojo then advised residents around the area to stay indoor and avoid going near the suspected patients.
The friend of the deceased said they are both Beninoise residing in Ijebu-Ode.
He added that one officer transported them from Sagamu to Owode Idiroko, a border town in Ogun, when his friend died in the man’s car.
He said this made the officer in question to hurriedly dump him and his late friend beside the road, where they were found.”