Zamfara Emir, Nasarawa assembly member dies from COVID-19

By our reporter|The Emir of Kaura-Namoda in Zamfara State, Alhaji Mohammed Asha, is dead.

He is believed to have died of complications from COVID-19 while undergoing treatment at an Isolation centre in Gusau, the state capital.

The state commissioner for health, Yahaya Kanoma who confirmed the death, said the late Emir fell ill on Friday and was admitted at the Specialist Hospital, in Gusau.

He explained that the deceased was immediately put into isolation after he showed symptoms of COVID-19 along with his wife, while his blood sample was collected for testing.

According to the commissioner, the Emir died in the early hours of Sunday while the result of his sample was being awaited.

He, however, said that it will be too early to conclude that the late emir died from COVID-19 until his test result comes out.

Meanwhile, all the family members and close associates of the late emir have been quarantined, while the hospital he was admitted in and other places he visited have been decontaminated.

The remains of the late Emir have been laid to rest in line with Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) protocol and guidelines on the burial of COVID-19 victims.

Also on Sunday a member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Adamu Suleiman, died of coronavirus (COVID-19).

Suleiman is the first patient to die of COVID-19 complications in the state since Nasarawa reported its index case of the disease.

The state governor, Abdullahi Sule, who announced the death of the lawmaker in Lafia, the state capital,
revealed that the lawmaker died before the result of his test came back positive.

He said, “There is also one member of the House of Assembly who was admitted in Keffi and started showing signs and after we took his samples, unfortunately before the results came out, he died and he was buried according to Muslim rites.

“However, yesterday by the time his result came out, it turned out to be positive. So that really complicated our situation because the member had been part of all recent sittings of the members of the assembly.”

The governor explained explained that after the COVID-19 status of the lawmaker was discovered, members of his family and those living in the house went into isolation.