The strange deaths in Kano continued yesterday, with the passing of four prominent citizens of the state.
They include a cleric, Sheik Tijjani Yola, who was also the head of Murtala Mohammed Central Mosque in the state; father of Vice-Chancellor of National Open University, NOUN, Uba Adamu; former speaker of Jigawa State House of Assembly, Adamu Sarawak; and former chairperson of the Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria, FOMWAN, Halima Shittu.
This came as Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, yesterday, raised the alarm over the fear of large scale community transmission of COVID-19 in the state.
This is even as Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, caucus in the House of Representatives expressed concern and displeasure over the health crisis and mysterious deaths in Kano State, calling for urgent practical steps to arrest the situation.
The fresh deaths are coming despite assurances by the state government that there was no cause for alarm.
A member of the cleric’s family, who disclosed that he died in the early hours of yesterday, said:
“He passed on at his residence in Gwale quarters in Kano in the early hours of today (yesterday) and was laid to rest around 9 am.’’
A resident, Abdul Umar, who also confirmed the death of the cleric, said people were in a sad mood in the ancient city. “The death of Sheik Yola has left a big vacuum.
He was managing one of the largest mosques in Kano. He was well known for his oral poetry extolling the virtues of Prophet Muhammad.
Everything that happens in life is from Allah but this is shocking,” he said.
The former FOMWAN boss was said to have died at her residence at NNDC quarters, yesterday morning and has been buried in accordance with Islamic rites.
Also reported dead is a female Hizbah Commander, Halima Shitu, 55. Her sister, Maimuna Shitu, told newsmen that she died after a brief illness.
Similarly, the Vice-Chancellor of Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Prof. Shehu Musa, yesterday, in a statement announced the death of Dr. Ghali Kabir of the Department of Architecture.
Until his death, Umar was a senior lecturer at the institution.
However, the cause of his death is yet to be made public by the institution. He is the fifth academician to have died in the last 72 hours. Besides, a yet-to-be-identified middle-aged man was also discovered dead on the street of Kano, close to Kofar Nasasarawa gate, yesterday.
An eyewitness told newsmen that the dead man had always stayed around the area where he was found dead. Ganduje raises alarm over the fear of community transmission Meanwhile, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, yesterday, raised the alarm over the fear of large scale community transmission of COVID-19 in the state.
Ganduje raised the alarm while receiving a delegation of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, led by Dr. Nasiru Gwarzo, which was in the state to give a helping hand to unravel the cause of the mysterious deaths and also contain the spread of the virus in the state.
The governor said the state needed more testing centers and multiple collection centers in all the 44 local government areas of the state.
He said:
“Testing center is the nucleus of the fight against COVID-19. It is just like a heart in our body. We have to give you full cooperation. This is what we have been looking for.
“We need more testing centers in the state, and the extension of isolation centers is absolutely necessary because there is this fear of community transmission.
And we need more sample collection areas. In all the 44 local governments, we must have multiple collection centers. “We requested for the provision of more Personal Protection Equipment, PPEs.