The Federal Government of Nigeria has said it’s on the lookout for over 1,300 suspected cases of Coronavirus.
Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed disclosed at an ongoing press conference in Abuja on Monday that the federal government may resort to using the police and military to enforce a ban on social gatherings.
Due to the increase in the number of victims, Mr Mohammed urged Nigerians to be ready for tougher measures to curtail the spread and as such, it will unveil the necessary measures in the next 24 to 48 hours.
“We should be ready for tougher measures.”
“The forms they will take will be out from the end of today or tomorrow. But Nigerians should be ready for tougher measures.”
“If we don’t do proper contact tracing, the figure will multiply every five days. Nigerians must take ownership of this initiative. We won’t hesitate to use whatever measure to ensure that you do not endanger other Nigerians. Containment is very cheaper than cure.”
The government also said it may be forced to military and the Nigeria Police for contact tracing.
“A few people have helped. If you know you travelled recently, give yourself up to relevant agencies. If the situation warrants, we may be forced to use the police and the military for contact tracing. The police is already working on that. We don’t want the figure we have now to multiply. We should work towards containment which is cheaper”, he said.
It will be recalled that the Lagos state commissioner for health told journalists last week that the state government was tracing 1,300 persons that might have had contact with the positive cases.
Nigeria recorded its first coronavirus death on Monday. The former Managing Director of Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Suleiman Achimugu died after contracting the deadly virus.
