The Nigerian airline, Air Peace, has evacuated about 274 Israelis from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to Israel’s major city, Tel-Aviv. The flight,Air Peace Boeing 777-300 with registration number 5N-BWI, airlifted 65 passengers from Lagos and 209 passengers from Abuja. 

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, Allen Onyema described the flight as historic because it is the first time there would be a direct flight from Nigeria to Israel would have a direct flight and expressed hope that subsequently the two countries would have scheduled direct flights between Lagos and Tel-Aviv.

READ ALSO, BUHARI LOCKS DOWN ABUJA, LAGOS, OGUN, AS CORONAVIRUS CASES HIT 111

“It is a historic day for both Nigeria and Israel. History has been made today. 60 years of diplomatic relations, no direct flight has been conducted between Nigeria and Israel till today. So this is the first time Nigeria and Israel will have direct air connectivity. So it is a historic day and it is going to portend greater things that will come. Both countries have a lot to gain by having direct flights. Nigeria is a land of huge potential, which Israel may be willing to tape into, while Nigeria will want to tap into science and technology, which Israel is known for.

“I really want to thank the federal government of Nigeria for making this possible. Previous administrations were unable to pull this through, but this government did it. We have a compassionate government; that I can tell you. It is difficult to get flight permits even during this critical period of emergencies from other countries, but Nigeria did not waste a second to approve this flight. The Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika approved the request the moment it was presented to him. All the heads of aviation agencies gave their support, which made the flight possible. So it is the federal government that made the evacuation possible,” Onyema said.

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He said the Israel government also gave its support and allowed a Nigerian airline to operate direct flight to Israel, noting that this is a good development for both countries, good for our diplomatic relations.

“I feel proud, and privileged to be part of this history and I thank God Almighty for it. We have to build from here now going forward,” the Air Peace Chairman said.

He added, “This COVID-19 storm will be over someday. When it is over we look forward to do scheduled direct flight to Israel; at least twice a week to Tel-Aviv; this will help boost business relations between both countries.

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"There is a lot to be gained instead of people going through different countries before getting to Israel. For Israelis to get their country they spend about 18 hours for a flight that should last just about five hours  from Nigeria. They were happy and clapping for the Nigerian government and for the Israeli government for making this happen today. So I say kudos to the Buhari administration for making this come through.”

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The Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, Shimon Ben-Shoshan also expressed happiness over the successful evacuation of the citizens from Nigeria. He commended the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, for his invaluable contribution in making the airlift possible.

He said, “Thank you so much for this cooperation with us. We will work together. During this operation I will work with you hand by hand. I can say that you are the darling of the Nigerian people but you are my hero. Thank you so much.”  

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AIR PEACE EVACUATES 274 ISRAELIS TO TEL-AVIV

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a lockdown of Abuja, Lagos and Ogun to contain the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). The President gave the order in a nationwide broadcast on Sunday evening. 

The announcement came just as news broke that COVID-19 cases in the country increased to 111 on Sunday and more prominent Nigerians tested positive for the disease. Among those who tested positive were the  Chief Medical Director, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Prof. Jesse Otegbayo; the Provost and Deputy Provost of the College of Medicine, Ibadan, Ezekiel Olapade-Olaopa  and Obafunke Denloye respectively;  and the Comptroller General of Nigeria Immigration Service,  Muhammad Babandede.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control at 9:30 pm on Sunday confirmed 14 new infections, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 111.

The confirmation was made via the NCDC Twitter handle , “Fourteen new cases of #COVID19 have been reported in Nigeria; nine in Lagos and five in FCT. As at 09:30 pm 29th March, there are 111 confirmed cases of #COVID19 reported in Nigeria with 1 death.”

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A month after the country recorded the first COVID-19 case, the President spoke on the pandemic, announcing amongst other things, the lockdown of three states. 

”Based on the advice of the Federal Ministry of Health and the NCDC, I am directing the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11pm on Monday, 30th March 2020,” he said.

”This restriction will also apply to Ogun State due to its close proximity to Lagos and the high traffic between the two States.”

The president said all citizens in these areas are to stay in their homes and that travel to or from other states should be postponed.

”All businesses and offices within these locations should be fully closed during this period. The Governors of Lagos and Ogun States as well as the Minister of the FCT have been notified. Furthermore, heads of security and intelligence agencies have also been briefed,” he said.

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Buhari said this containment period will be used to identify, trace and isolate all individuals that have come into contact with confirmed cases.

”We will ensure the treatment of confirmed cases while restricting further spread to other states,” he said.

”This order does not apply to hospitals and all related medical establishments as well as organizations in health care related manufacturing and distribution.”

He added that food processing, distribution and retail companies; petroleum distribution and retail entities; power generation, transmission and distribution companies; and private security companies were also exempted.

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In addition, “Workers in telecommunication companies, broadcasters, print and electronic media staff who can prove they are unable to work from home are also exempted."

According to the President, while all flights remained suspended,  any form of inter-state vehicular or seaport movements for the purpose of conveying foodstuffs and medical supplies would be done in strict compliance to safety regulations.

“All seaports in Lagos shall remain operational in accordance with the guidelines I issued earlier. Vehicles and drivers conveying essential cargoes from these ports to other parts of the country will be screened thoroughly before departure by the Ports Health Authority.

“Furthermore, all vehicles conveying food and other essential humanitarian items into these locations from other parts of the country will also be screened thoroughly before they are allowed to enter these restricted areas.

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“Accordingly, the minister of health is hereby directed to redeploy all Port Health Authority employees previously stationed in the Lagos and Abuja airports to key roads that serve as entry and exit points to these restricted zones.

“Movements of all passenger aircraft, both commercial and private jets, are hereby suspended. Special permits will be issued on a need basis.”

The President, admitted that the measures would cause pain to the citizenry, but noted that they were necessary to stop Nigeria from going the way of Italy, Spain and France who had recorded heavy casualties.

He promised to announce relief measures for the satellite town residents of Lagos and Abuja, who would be most affected by the measures, in the weeks ahead.

In the meantime, Buhari disclosed that a strategy was being worked out in conjunction with the state governments to sustain the school feeding programme, in spite of the fact that schools were already closed.

He spoke on other palliatives, saying,  “Furthermore, I have directed that a three-month repayment moratorium for all TraderMoni, MarketMoni and FarmerMoni loans be implemented with immediate effect.

“I have also directed that a similar moratorium be given to all Federal Government funded loans issued by the Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture and the Nigeria Export and Import Bank.

“For on-lending facilities using capital from international and multilateral development partners, I have directed our development financial institutions to engage these development partners and negotiate concessions to ease the pains of the borrowers.

“For the most vulnerable in our society, I have directed that the conditional cash transfers for the next two months be paid immediately. Our internally displaced persons will also receive two months of food rations in the coming weeks.”

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The President urged Nigerians to sustain all safety regulations already put in place by the NDDC, especially social distancing, banning of large gatherings, use of sanitisers and wearing of face masks.

BUHARI LOCKS  DOWN ABUJA, LAGOS, OGUN, AS CORONAVIRUS CASES HIT 111

Cases May Hit 39,000- Commissioner for Health 

The Governor of Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has declared that a total lockdown is imminent if the cases of coronavirus continue to increase. Sanwo-Olu said this while giving a situation update of the pandemic in the state at the State House in Marina on Friday.

Of the 70 confirmed cases nationwide, Lagos accounts for 44, but according to the governor, going by the development, the state was gradually moving towards a higher  number.

Sanwo-Olu said, “We are moving in the direction of a total lockdown but there are numbers or indices that we need to see before we carry it out, which we have yet to see. We need to see a huge spike in the numbers of confirmed cases, so, we are looking at that.”

The governor  also said that based on available data, out of the 44 confirmed cases in the state, Ikeja and Eti-Osa local government areas had the highest number of patients, adding that the government was focusing on those areas.

However, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, in an earlier press briefing said the state might witness 39,000 cases of COVID-19 in a worst-case scenario. The Commissioner, therefore, urged residents to adhere to the social distancing rules to contain the spread of the disease.

He said, “Our mathematical modelling shows that the worst-case scenario is that we may see up to 39,000 cases in Lagos, but if everyone practises good social distancing, the figure will be limited to 13,000.

“If we add social distancing to active contact tracing, then we will be able to bend the curve further. The figures may seem alarming at this point, but this is just to emphasise to the Lagos community to follow the instructions of the incident commander to make sure that we practise social distancing.

“Looking at the same timeframe from the introduction of the index case, you can see that Lagos State is not seen anywhere near what Spain, Italy, and Iran are showing. So, at weeks two and three of our index case, we are flat and at week four, we have 37 cases; while at the same fourth week, Italy, Iran, and Spain had more than 20,000 cases.”

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The commissioner added that the state was tracing 3,000 contacts who might have had contact with some of the confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, Sanwo-Olu directed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Lagos starting from Sunday to allow the state to carry out a comprehensive disinfection of the metropolis. He added that the domestic airport in the state would be closed. 

He said, “I am hereby directing a statewide curfew from 8pm to 6am, starting from Sunday until further notice. This is to enable us to carry out comprehensive disinfection of the Lagos Metropolis. 

“I am pleased to note that we have taken possession of over 200 disinfecting machines, and starting today, we will be disinfecting all major highways, bus stops, markets, parks, and other public areas.

“With effect from Sunday, we will be closing the domestic airport in Lagos, the General Aviation Terminal and the MM2. All movements in and out of Lagos through the two domestic terminals will, therefore, be suspended from Sunday for two weeks in the first instance. The only exceptions will be flights carrying essential supplies and those on emergency operations.”

He further said travelling in and out of Lagos would be restricted on Sunday, adding that all inter-state motor parks should shut down for two weeks.

The governor also signed into law the Emergency Coronavirus Pandemic Bill 2020 passed by the House of Assembly, which  empowers the governor to punish violators of the shutdown order policy.

 LAGOS NEARS TOTAL LOCKDOWN AS COVID-19 CASES SPIKE

84 Suspected Cases of Coronavirus Identified 

Following the confirmation of two new cases and 84 suspected cases in the state, the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state. The governor made this known via a series of tweets on Saturday morning. This came a few hours after the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control announced that Oyo had recorded three cases of COVID-19.

The governor also banned all inter-states transportation, shut markets and restricted gatherings to not more than 10 persons. He tweeted, “The COVID-19 confirmation test for two suspected cases has come back positive. The isolation process has been initiated. 84 Persons of Interest have been identified, and contact tracing and collection of samples have commenced.

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“The state’s diagnostic centre set up in collaboration with the University College Hospital is now ready. The @NCDCgov certification is still pending but the Director-General of NCDC has made a pre-statement about the molecular laboratory in Oyo State.

“The index case remains stable and is still under observation in the isolation unit at Agbami Chest Centre, Jericho. The number of confirmed cases in Oyo State is now three. As a result of this, I have directed that the following additional measures be put in place: a dusk-to-dawn curfew (7pm to 6am); no gatherings of more than 10 people should be held anywhere in Oyo State.

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“From Sunday night, March 29, 2020, all markets will be closed except those selling perishable food items. Also, inter-state transportation into and out of the state will be suspended except vehicles carrying food items, medical, pharmaceutical and petroleum products. This takes effect from Sunday night, March 29, 2020. All measures will be reviewed on a weekly basis.”

The Governor also reportedly sacked his Special Assistant on Digital Media, Muritala Adigun, for allegedly feeding the public with misleading information. It was alleged that the sacked media aide had, on Thursday, posted false information about the procurement of some Coronavirus kits on his Facebook page, claiming that they were bought by the Oyo State Government. This action led to negative comments against the governor and the state government.

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Makinde, who was said to have taken strong exception to the development, reportedly ordered the immediate dismissal of the media aide.

His letter of termination of appointment, signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Olubamiwo Adeosun, with reference number: SP/S.662/2/Vol1/115, was reportedly handed over to him on Friday. The letter read in part, “I wish to convey the approval of His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde, on the termination of your appointment as Special Assistant (Digital Media), with immediate effect.”

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Adigun, a.k.a Adigun Ibadan, posted the picture of some tools, reportedly procured by the Lagos State Government, on his Facebook page, with a claim that it was procured by the Oyo State Government.

Adigun was reported to have  apologised for publicising falsehood on his Facebook page. But, he later claimed that his page was hacked by some elements belonging to  the opposition party in order to discredit him.

OYO IMPOSES CURFEW AS GOVERNOR FIRES AIDE OVER FALSE PUBLICATION

No fewer than 100 residential buildings, school, churches were destroyed by an explosion in Akure, the Ondo State capital, in the early hours of Saturday morning. 

The blast cut off the ever-busy Akure /Owo road and many people were reportedly injured. The highway was cut off leaving hundreds of travelers stranded. The site of the explosion has a deep crater cutting off the road and hindering vehicular movement.

The explosion happened less than a kilometre to Akure Airport, and affected many residents of Eleyowo community, destroying completely a church and a school in the area. Many people who lived within the church premises were said to be injured while some were rescued by the people of the community. The school Aina Awawul Secondary School, with boarding facilities was destroyed beyond repair with roofs of all the buildings blown off.

The explosion was said to have happened in the early hours of Saturday at Eleyowo, Akure, along Owo-Akure highway around 1 a.m. According to residents of the area, a terrifying loud bang was heard when everyone was already asleep.

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Also affected in the explosion was one of the most popular churches in Akure, Possibility Ground Ministry, as well as a filling station and hundreds of buildings.

The House of Representatives has commenced taking delivery and distribution of the Toyota Camry 2020 model cars acquired for members as official cars. The House reportedly  procured the V6 Limited Edition variant of the car.

The legislators had at an executive (closed-door) session on February 5, 2020, resolved to purchase 400 units of the exotic car. However, the lawmakers did not divulge the cost of each unit as the contract for the supply was reportedly not awarded to accredited Toyota dealers.

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According to the Toyota website, each of the vehicles – depending on the variant, has a price tag of between US$25,000 to US $35,000, excluding the cost of shipping and custom duties, which is about 100 per cent of the actual cost of each unit.

About 14 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado sports utility vehicles have already been handed out to presiding as well as other principal officers and chairmen of select House committees.

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According to Punch Newspapers, an anonymous source aisclosed, “100 cars have already arrived and they are sharing them to new members who are not chairmen and deputy chairmen (of committees). The next batch will be for returning (ranking) members who are neither chairmen nor deputy chairmen. The last batch will go to ranking member with appointments."

The Committee on House Services and the National Assembly Management, led by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, had constituted a joint committee to oversee the acquisition, verification and distribution to the lawmakers.

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REPS BEGIN DISTRIBUTION OF EXOTIC CARS AMID COVID-19 CRISIS

Suspends Forex Sales Till Further Notice 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has suspended foreign exchange sales to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators until further notice.This announcement came, following the request by the Association of Bureau de Change of Nigeria (ABCON) on the 24th of March, to the apex bank, recommending a halt in the weekly sales of forex to the BDCs.This was due to the ongoing challenges faced in local and global economies due to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The CBN, in its response dated March 25, 2020 addressed to the ABCON president notified them of its decision to suspend sales.

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The letter states that the suspension follows the government’s directive to restrict gatherings to not more than 20 persons aimed at reducing person-to-person contact and to curb the transmission of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).

In a notice to the BDC operators and directors, the President, ABCON, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, said the CBN’s approval meant that sales of foreign exchange to the BDCs were now suspended till further notice.

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Gwadabe also advised the public not to go into panic buying, hoarding and patronising the street traders as the CBN had enough reserves to sustain supplies when the BDCs returned to operations.

A statement said the CBN had also acknowledged the contributions of the BDCs in promoting stable exchange rate in recent months, despite challenging circumstances facing the forex market due to drop in crude oil prices.

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It stated, “This is to urgently bring to the notice of our members nationwide that following our letter of recommendations to the CBN to grant us market holidays on our bidding days as a proactive and preventive measure on the scourge of the novel COVID-19 epidemic and the ban on all air/land travels, the CBN has granted our request, effective Friday March 27, 2020. 

“There shall be no market days henceforth for a tentative period of two weeks.”

COVID-19: CBN GRANTS MARKET HOLIDAYS TO BUREAU DE CHANGE

The University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan Oyo State, has announced the suspension of its key services to curtail the spread of the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak. The suspension of consultation services to regular outpatients was announced by the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital, Jesse Otegbayo, on Wednesday.

The units affected are outpatients clinics, medicine and surgery and paediatric departments. However, other departments in the hospital will also stop rendering services till further notice. The CMD said the action became necessary due to the “accidental exposure of some doctors in the institution to some suspected Covid-19 patients”.

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The suspension of these services implies that scores of people who regularly access medical treatment from the institution will no longer have access to care until further notice. This would affect not just the state or the South-West, but patients from all over the country, as the teaching hospital, which was established in 1957, is a major health facility in the country.

According to the CMD, some doctors in the hospital who were suspected to have been exposed to the virus are currently on self-isolation. He, however, did not state the number of doctors affected.

“We don’t have to wait till we start seeing positive ones before we take appropriate actions. As the CMD, I have the sole responsibility to take care of and protect our staff from unnecessary infection and I just want to be proactive.

“As you are aware, the number of cases that are testing positive to COVID-19 is increasing and personally, I believe in prevention rather than all these curative approaches. Some countries have been able to reduce the number of cases because they locked down early.

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“Initially, we thought we should leave the outpatient department open but we realise that continuing to do that in the absence of enough materials to protect all our staff including our doctors, nurses and health attendants is not the best option, and the best option will be to lock this place down,” he explained.

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The Special Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on Health, Dr Tunde Ajayi, has announced that six of the patients at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba have recovered and will be discharged soon.

He made this disclosure on Thursday via his twitter handle. This means that Lagos will be left with 24 confirmed cases undergoing treatment.

The development which was communicated through the Special Assistant on Health to the Lagos State government, Tunde Ajayi revealed that the success will bring total recovered patient to eight.

He wrote: “6 of our #COVID19 inpatients have recovered and will be discharged soon. There’s something Lagos is doing right. Lagos takes the lead. Hundred points symbol,” he revealed through his verified twitter handle.

It will be recalled that the total confirmed cases of coronavirus in Lagos are 32 while two patients had already recovered with 30 currently active cases.

Nigeria currently has a total of 51 confirmed cases in the country, two in Lagos have since been discharged while one died from the virus in Abuja.

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BREAKING: LAGOS TO DISCHARGE SIX COVID-19 PATIENTS 

The preventive and treatment items donated by a Chinese billionaire, Jack Ma, to help fight coronavirus in Nigeria, have arrived. The federal government, on Wednesday, took delivery of the materials. 

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health Abdullahi Mashi, on behalf of the federal government, received the consignment in a cargo aircraft at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. 

Speaking after receiving the items,Mashi appealed to corporate organisations and individuals in Nigeria to support the government with resources to tackle the war against the spread of the disease.

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Ma had promised to assist the African continent with commodities for tackling the spread of COVID-19 in the continent.He kept his word and the federal ministry of health was asked to send an aircraft to get the items from Addis Ababa, headquarters of the African Union.

According to Mashi, over one hundred face masks and 20 thousand test kits were among the COVID-19 preventive commodities donated to Nigeria by Ma.The Director, Port Health Services, Dr. Morenike Oko, who expressed gratitude to Ma, noted that the items would go a long way containing the further spread of COVID-19 in the country.

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According to Dr Morenike Oko, “Preventive measures against the COVID-19 pandemic remains adherence to coughing and sneezing etiquette, regular use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, social distancing among others.”

DONATED CORONAVIRUS RELIEF MATERIALS ARRIVE NIGERIA 

The Nigerian Army has debunked news about a purported plan of the Federal Government to enforce military lockdown on Friday.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sagir Musa, described the publications as false and misleading.

Col. Musa said that the Nigerian Army “dissociates itself from such false, speculative and vexatious publication designed by certain mischievous elements to create chaos, panic and disaffection in the society that could only serve the ulterior motives of its promoters.

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According to him, the document being quoted was a proactive directive for the Nigerian army to prepare for a possible escalation of the COVID -19 based on the happenings around the world on the pandemic.

“The misinterpretation that government is locking down the entire country and pulling out the army by Friday, March 27, is utterly false and baseless. The NA considers the publication and negative interpretation being given the content of the Classified document containing information meant for the army personnel as a violation of the Official Secret Act.

Musa assured that Nigerian army would continue to be professional, proactive and responsive in support of the constitution, democracy and government in line with its constitutional mandate of providing aid to civil authority.

He added that the army would leave no stone unturned to prepare to support the civil authority in times of emergencies of national magnitude.

“The mischief of some unpatriotic few will not dissuade the Nigerian Army from working with sister services, the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to keep Nigeria safe.

“The NA calls on the general public to discountenance the publication going round that the federal government is locking down Nigeria by Friday on the basis of the content of the directive to military formations to take proactive measures to prepare for possible call out to assist civil authority in the case of COVID-19 getting worse in the country."

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The acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, has announced that the agency will provide ventilators and oxygen as part of its contribution to the fight against Coronavirus. This intervention would be targeted at protecting the people of Niger Delta from the disease.

Pondei made this known while speaking at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt on Tuesday. He said the commission would come in as an interventionist agency, and collaborate with other stakeholders in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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He said, “We have started looking at different isolation points in the nine states of the Niger Delta region. We are interacting with the states to find out what is on the ground and we are taking stock of the ventilators and oxygen in health facilities across the region.”

He added that the treatment of the disease was not limited to drugs, but included the ability to make sure that the patients were able to breathe properly and this should be done using ventilators.

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Pondei said, “This morning we found that there are about 500 ventilators in the entire country. We are exploring avenues to see if we could intervene in providing ventilators. Similarly, oxygen is difficult to procure in the country.

“The Federal Government through the ministry of health has a policy on oxygen, which has not been disseminated very well. There are very few oxygen production plants in the country and some of the existing ones have actually broken down. But the provision of oxygen is key to the treatment.”

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NDDC TO PROVIDE VENTILATORS AGAINST CORONAVIRUS 

Nigerian newspapers,on one page.