The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic has admitted failing to observe guideline on crowd control at the burial ceremonies for late Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, last Saturday.
National Coordinator of the PTF, Dr Sani Aliyu, while speaking at the Monday’s edition of the task force’s daily press briefing, apologised on behalf of the PTF, adding that lessons had been learned, which would help in proper regulation of future events.
Dr Aliyu also allayed fears of contacting the dangerous virus from the corpse of a victim of COVID-19, clarifying that the World Health Organisation (WHO) had, in its guidelines, explained that there had not been any case of contacting the disease from a corpse of Coronavirus infected person.
“The PTF will like to acknowledge and apologise for the mistakes that were made regarding the burial of the late Chief of Staff. We realised that crowd control failed, we have learned from this and we will ensure that future events are adequately regulated and follow the task force’s protocols.
“The Gudu Cemetery had since been decontaminated, the personal protective equipment discarded at the site; decontaminated being burned and discarded according to the NCDC guidelines.
“I’ll like to further clarify the issue of COVID-19 and the burial processes. Contrary to what is on social media, the body of the late Chief of Staff was properly prepared for burial, according to NCDC guidelines and the Islamic faith.
“The bodies of persons with COVID-19, as stated clearly by the WHO guidelines ‘except in cases of viral haemorrhagic fever and cholera, dead bodies are generally not infectious. To date, there’s no evidence of persons having become infected from exposure to the bodies of persons who had died of COVID-19’.
“Therefore, we will like to further assure the public that we will continue to follow the guidelines and protocols we had produced. The NCDC guidelines are very much reflecting the WHO guidelines.
“We’ll also like to assure the public that the task force takes its Presidential mandate seriously and is committed to executing it to the best of its ability. We ask for the public to continue holding us accountable for our actions.
“We read your comments on social media, we listen to you and also acknowledge the issues that might arise, please continue to do so, it is the only way we can continue to improve and fight this big challenges we have”, he explained.
Responding to why they as members of the task force had refused to go on self-isolation, as directed by the State House after the burial, Dr Aliyu explained that the none of the items of the guidelines and protocols issued to regulate public conducts during the pandemic would require them to resume isolation or quarantine immediately.
He, however, emphasised that the events of the weekend were not intended, assuring further that members of the task force were responsible persons, who would do everything possible to ensure that the national efforts do not fail.
“Like the Chairman said, the incident over the weekend was not intentional, it was a crowd control issue, no privileges were given. In a pandemic situation, you cannot differentiate between the rich and the poor, you cannot differentiate between nationalities and neither can you differentiate between races because the virus itself does not differentiate.
“The Presidential Task Force is committed to making sure as we move forward, that necessary steps are taken so that this sort of episode does not happen again.
“In terms of self-isolation, we have clearcut guidelines for isolation: if you have symptoms consistent with COVID-19, we’ll have to isolate you when we test. If you have had contact with a case of COVID-19, we’ll isolate you, if you are coming from an area that is of high prevalence, we will isolate you. So this guidelines in terms of self-isolation and quarantine are very clear”, he explained.

By Bolaji Ogundele