The government of Kogi State, has on Thursday, declared the State Covid-19 free, despite recording its first and second confirmed cases by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, on Wednesday night.
In a statement, Saka Haruna Audu, the State Commissioner of Health, said that the State Government has developed “full testing capacity”, and “conducted hundreds of tests”, which have come back negative.
In the statement, Audu maintained that the State would not be a party “to any fictitious Covid-19 claims”.
His words: “Kogi State till this very moment, is Covid-19 free. We have developed full testing capacity, and have conducted hundreds of tests so far, which have come back negative.
“We have also continued to insist that we will not be a party to any fictitious Covid-19 claims, which is why we do not recognise any Covid-19 test conducted by any Kogite, outside the boundaries of the State, except those initiated by us.
“Any attempt to force us to announce a case of Covid-19, will be vehemently rejected.”
The Commissioner asked residents of the State, to continue to take all necessary precautions to prevent a spread of the disease.
“We are more than prepared to secure the lives of our people, and have no interest in playing politics with their health concerns”, he added.