The House of Representatives on Tuesday ordered an investigation
into the causes of the increasing number of mysterious deaths in Kano State.
The House has also directed its Committees on
Environment, Healthcare Services and Agricultural Production and Services to
investigate the washing ashore of dead fishes in brackish water in Bonny-Andoni,
Rivers State, other communities in the Niger Delta region, as well as Ondo and
Akwa Ibom States.
Also, following the extension of the lockdown by
President Muhammadu Buhari to curb the spread of COVID-19, the House of
Representatives at the resumption of plenary yesterday resolved to sit once
every week till the lockdown order is lifted.
It also called on the federal government to as a
matter of urgency and priority scale up the country’s COVID-19 testing
capacity.
The resolution of the House yesterday was sequel to
the adoption of a motion moved by the Leader of the House, Hon. Alhassan
Doguwa, and also directed its Committee on Health to engage the Presidential
Task Force on COVID-19 over the health crisis and strange deaths in Kano State.
In his lead debate, Doguwa said since the index COVID-19
case was recorded on February 27, 2020, the country has so far recorded 1,337
confirmed cases of the virus, 40 deaths and 255 recoveries.
He said the federal government has equally released
the sum of N5 billion to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to scale
up capacity and strategise rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doguwa, however, expressed worry over the rising spate
of unexplainable deaths in Kano State recently, where 77 COVID-19 cases and one
death have been recorded in less than two weeks.
He noted that Kano State, despite its population,
has only one testing centre, which has been shut down for about a week now
reportedly due to lack of some testing materials and reagents.
Meanwhile, the House has also directed its
Committees on Environment, Healthcare Services and Agricultural Production and
Services to investigate the washing ashore of dead fishes in brackish water in communities
in the Niger Delta region, Ondo and Akwa Ibom States.
This resolution was sequel to the adoption of a
motion on the 'Urgent Need to Investigate the Occurrence of Dead Fishes in
Brackish Water, Ensure Public Sensitisation and Clean-Up of the Environment'
sponsored by Hon. Awaji-Inombek D. Abiante and five other lawmakers.
Presenting the motion, Abiante recalled the
incidences of large quantities of dead fishes floating on Bonny-Andoni river in
Rivers State and several other states since March 2020.
He explained that the most common fish species
being washed off is croaker, popularly known as ‘Broke Marriage’ or ‘Onah’ in
local dialects, and are believed to be carried by tidal waves from the high sea
to the shores and rivers in the communities.
Meanwhile, following the extension of lockdown by
President Muhammadu Buhari to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the House of
Representatives at the resumption of plenary yesterday has resolved to sit once
every week till lockdown order is lifted.
The House made the resolution, following the adoption
of a motion titled: Regulating Plenary Sittings in the Period of COVID-19
Pandemic and Lockdown, pursuant to Order One, Rule 1 (2) of the Standing Orders
of the House of Representatives' sponsored by Hon. Abubakar Hassan Fulata.
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