Kwara suspends Permanent Secretary over poor handling of suspected Coronavirus patient evacuation

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Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq: The man Kwarans used to retire Saraki.

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Report reaching us says the poor handling of suspected coronavirus patient by staff of Kwara State Ministry of Health has reached the government and that action has been taken immediately with the suspension of Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr. Ayinla Abubakar.

The Kwara State Technical Committee on COVID-19 pandemic, which took the decision on Thursday, asked the Permanent Secretary, Dr Abubakar, to proceed on indefinite suspension.

According to Royal News, the decision followed the mishandling of the evacuation of a man who, locals said, had locked himself in his vehicle for days and had become distressed following some personal life challenges.

Footage of a video circulating on social media had earlier shown the poor and unprofessional manner by which the man, in a section of the public considered to be suspected coronavirus patient, was lifted by the health workers during the rescue operation.

Reacting in a statement Thursday, Deputy Governor/Chairman, Kwara State Technical Committee on COVID-19, Mr. Kayode Alabi, described the misbehaviour of the health workers as embarrassing.

He said: “The committee is thoroughly embarrassed at the whole development. While the driver has been sacked from all activities of the committee for unilaterally allowing evacuation of the man by members of the public without waiting for the Rapid Response Team (RRT) to arrive the scene as instructed, the Permanent Secretary who directed him to proceed on the operation with a COVID-19 ambulance without due diligence and respect for all safety protocols is hereby asked to proceed on an indefinite suspension forthwith.”

The deputy governor continued: “As the highest official involved in the RRT squad who gave the directive for the driver to proceed, the committee does not accept his explanation regarding the ugly development.

“He has been asked to hand over to the most senior officer on the team pending his return from suspension. This development also has necessitated a new round of refresher course (which is now ongoing) for all our ambulance drivers and members of the RRT, as the scenario witnessed in the footage cannot be allowed to happen ever again.

“Finally, we are sorry once again for the development. It should not have happened. We do not take the support of the Kwara people for granted, and we reassure them that Kwara retains its proud ratings as one of the states with the best facilities, responsiveness, and general preparedness to manage this pandemic.

“This has been attested to by the NCDC team as well as the Stears Business rating of the level of states’ responsiveness and preparation for the pandemic.”


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