The Akwa Ibom State epidemiologist, Aniekeme Uwah, has been sacked by the state government under controversial circumstances.
An epidemiologist is a medical professional whose focus is mainly on the study and containment of disease outbreak, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, within a population.
According to , Mr Uwah, a former chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Akwa Ibom State branch, was leading the fight against the spread of the coronavirus in the state as the state epidemiologist until his sudden removal on Friday.
He was among the African doctors honoured in 2019 by the African Union for their contributions to the fight against the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia.
There are 11 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Akwa Ibom State as of April 25.
The news of Mr Uwah’s removal first filtered into Facebook and Twitter on Friday afternoon before the state government, through the Commissioner for Health, Dominic Ukpong, later confirmed it a day after in a statement issued around 9 p.m. on Saturday.