The High Powered Response Team for the Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Borno State have ditched the daily media update for two days running as cases of the transmissions increase.
The daily briefing is aimed at making for free flow of information to residents.
According to Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, (NCDC), Borno State currently has a total of 69 confirmed cases of Coronavirus including 9 deaths the 5th largest in the country.
The action of the Response Team to stay away from media update clearly negates the directive of the state governor, Prof Babagana Zulum who instructed in a statewide broadcast a daily media briefing to keep citizens aware of fight against Covid 19 pandemic on daily bases be set up.
“The high powered team under His Excellency, the Deputy Governor, has been directed to as from Tuesday, commence a daily centralised media briefing at 4pm” Governor Zulum had directed last week.
The Response Team did not avail the media of a cogent and verifiable reason(s) for their action but the press briefing on Covid 19 was stalled after some prominent citizens allegedly died of coronavirus while the government chose to keep mum .
First, it was the Deputy Governor of Borno
State Hon Umar Usman Kadafur who doubles as the Chairman of the Response Team that stopped attending the daily media update. He was said to be having state matters to attend to.
Subsequently, the Secretary of the Response Team who is also the Commissioner for Health in the state followed the footsteps of the deputy governor, and didn’t show up too. He was also said to be having issues related to coronavirus to handle.
The Commissioner of Home Affairs Information and Culture, Hon Babakura Abba Jato who is also a member of the Response Team was present on Thursday but could not provide technical details for which the Response Team was known.
“I don’t have any report as per the number of people infected by this infectious disease, I don’t have the record now. The record could have been given to us by the commissioner for Health who is the Secretary of the Committee, but due to circumstances beyond his control, he will not be able to attend today’s ( Thursday) seating .” Jato also mention that Friday was worse as no member of the committee showed up to address Journalists who had waited patiently. It took the intervention of one of the media aide to governor Zulum to urge journalists to disperse and hope for future media update .
(C) Control TV 2020
