The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA), Ozonkpu Victor Oye, has warned against politicizing the fight to curb the outbreak of coronavirus in Nigeria.
He called on all and sundry to show restraint and work in concert with governments at all levels towards freeing citizens from the spreads and rampaging COVID-19 disease.
The APGA National Chairman who gave the warning in a statement made available to newsmen, on Wednesday, also lamented some challenges people experience in bringing home the remains of their deceased relatives from outside his Anambra State in recent times for burial.
According to Oye, findings have revealed that the Anambra government has through its Ministry of Health come up with guidelines for scrutinizing each convoy to ascertain the cause of death as well as ensure that persons accompanying such corpses do not bring COVID-19 into Anambra State.
Continuing, he said, “This is to avoid any slip or error that may be catastrophic to the general wellbeing of the people. The guidelines were designed essentially in line with the requirements of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)”.
The guidelines include: “All persons escorting remains of our brothers and sisters must declare what the cause of death was and support it with evidence of a duly-signed death certificate issued by relevant health authorities in the state where the person died.
“Everybody accompanying the corpse must give their contact details to the Anambra State Government health authorities for follow-up in a 14-day quarantine protocol.
To ensure that the guidelines are implemented seamlessly, Oye disclosed that the APGA-led Anambra State government has deployed experienced medical personnel to all entry points into the state to facilitate the implementation and ensure accelerated clearance of corpses into Anambra State.
The APGA chieftain who noted the attendant inconveniences opined that it was borne out of a genuine effort of the State government to keep the citizens safe from COVID-19 pandemic.
Oye, on behalf of the national leadership of APGA, however, assured the people of Anambra State that Governor Willie Obiano-led administration remained ahead of the rest of the country in designing and releasing guidelines for the sustained fight against the dreaded COVID-19.