Man Decries Rising Kano Deaths: ‘Facebook Pages Now Obituary Boards’

Despite the Kano State government denying reports of sudden deaths of over 150 people in the state, residents are said to have continued to announce obituaries of their loved ones.

Reports had attributed the mass deaths to a “strange disease,” as no medical report had linked the deaths to Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje was said to have refuted the reports, saying: “I will like to assure you that that story was not true. It is a rumor.”

The governor reportedly said only 13 deaths were recorded in Gwale local government area, Kano Municipal, Kumbotso.

“You see that if we put these figures together, they are nothing close to the figures of deaths being speculated. So what we are telling you is that this report is a complete rumour,” he said.

But despite Ganduje’s denial, residents are said to be leaving in fear as more people have continued to die in the last two weeks.

A Twitter user, Gimba Kakanda (@GimbaKakanda), lamented how his friends in Kano have continued to announce the deaths of their loved ones on social media.

“The Facebook pages of my friends from Kano have become obituary boards, and there’s no way to defend that it’s normal,” said Kankanda.

“The mortality rate in Kano seems to have surged, and even though it’s not been linked to any disease yet, it’s important to determine the causes of these deaths,” he said.

Maryam Shettima, the convener of ‘We Believe Movement’ and leader of ‘I Stand With Buhari’ group, had also taken to Facebook to decry the mortality rate in Kano, saying: “Funeral prayers for multiples as Kano death toll mounts!”

In another post, Shettima announced the death of two professors that she had close relationship with.

“I lost two important people in Kano that had a tremendous impact in shaping both my moral and educational course to be who I am today.

“Professor Ibrahim Ayagi and Professor Dikko of Physiology. May Allah’s mercy be with their gentle souls.”

A Twitter user, Jarumi (@_yellows), on Saturday, alleged that the Kano State had failed to carry out new tests for COVID-19 in the last three days.

Jarumi also criticised the state government for allegedly failing to distribute relief materials to residents after declaring lockdown in the state.

“People have started losing it,” he said, adding that, “the lockdown in Kano is more of an audio lockdown.”

Meanwhile, a professor of medicine, Usman Yusuf, had recently warned that Kano may soon become the epicentre of the COVID-19 in Africa.

Yusuf warned that the state alone may currently have more positive cases of COVID-19 than the whole country put together.