Fresh facts have emerged on how Chief of Staff to
President Muhammadu Buhari, Abba Kyari, violated the Quarantine Act to
embark on a private treatment for his Coronavirus infection in Lagos
against the directive and recommendation of senior government and health
ministry officials.
After being denied the usage of the Presidential Intensive Care Unit
at Aso Villa, Abuja, and considering the Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital
isolation unit too low for his standard and or liking, Kyari opted to
move to Lagos to find treatment for the virus.
Lagos has one of the most functional infectious diseases treatment and isolation centres in the country.
An Italian man, who first imported the virus into Nigeria in
February, was successfully treated at the Lagos centre at Yaba before
being declared free of the pandemic and released to go home.
Another 23 persons have also been treated and released from the facility.
In the face of a global lockdown and with many countries with
functional health systems closing their borders to international
visitors, the Lagos centre is perhaps one of the few places to
successfully deal with Kyari's case at this time.
But against expectations and advice by Ministry of Health officials,
Kyari has chosen to be treated at a private facility in Lagos where
according to findings by SaharaReporters, there are already fears that
other persons around the place could be infected by mistakenly.
Recall that after returning from trips to Germany and Egypt and being
infected with the virus, Kyari went about his daily activities as Chief
of Staff to Nigeria’s President and in the process exposed dozens of
persons to the virus.
Hours after he was confirmed to have been infected, it emerged that three of his staff had caught the bug from him.
A senior health ministry official, who spoke with SaharaReporters on
Saturday, said that the purpose of insisting that Kyari was placed in a
public isolation centre was for proper monitoring and control of the
infection spreading further.
“The purpose of the isolation centres is to get public protocols for monitoring and control of infections
“He can’t engage in private treatment since it is an infectious disease. It is wrong under the law.
“It was the same arrogance that led him to bring the infection from
Germany after failing to honour protocols that could have prevented
spread,” the ministry official said.
Kyari’s decision to embark on private treatment against advice of
government officials and top health practitioners violates the
Quarantine Act and also runs foul of the speech Buhari gave last Sunday
during his nationwide broadcast.
During the broadcast where he announced the lockdown of Lagos, Ogun
and FCT in a bid to curb the spread of the pandemic, Buhari said, “As a
government, we will continue to rely on guidance of our medical
professionals and experts at the Ministry of Health, NCDC and other
relevant agencies through this difficult time.
“I therefore urge all citizens to adhere to their guidelines as they are released from time to time.”
According to the act, “Health authorities of the places to which
infected persons are proceeding are notified of their coming; they may
be subjected in the places of arrival to a medical examination and such
enquiries as are necessary with a view to ascertaining their state of
health and may be required to report on arrival and afterwards at such
intervals during continuance of surveillance as may be specified to the
health officer of the city, town, district or place to which they
proceed.”
But on Wednesday, Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin
Abayomi, said he does not know the whereabouts of Kyari in the city,
indicating that the top Aso Villa official had violated the dictates of
the Quarantine Act.
Abayomi said, “We’re exchanging information, but I haven’t asked him
for his location. It has been a long time we talked about his health.”
Furthermore, Section 5 of the Act says, “Any person contravening any
of the regulations made under this Act shall be liable to a fine or to
imprisonment for a term of six months or to both.”
When asked on Saturday if any sort of action would be taken against
Kyari for violating the law, none of the government officials approached
by SaharaReporters were willing to respond.
“He opted for a private treatment with his own resources but why are others not allowed to treat themselves wherever they like?
“He has defied the regulations by treating himself in an unknown
place. There is no evidence that the place he is being kept have been
quarantined. This is totally wrong,” a Ministry of Health official said
while expressing rage.
This disturbing development comes as the country grapples with the
continued spread of the pandemic that has already seen confirmed cases
rise to 209 and four recorded deaths.
There are fears that with over 6000 persons suspected to have come in
contact with those infected now on the loose, the figure of confirmed
cases could explode in the coming days.
Source: SaharaReporters