13 Imo Lawmakers Contract Coronavirus

No fewer than thirteen members of the Imo State House of Assembly have contracted Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Naija News reports that this was disclosed by the spokesperson for Imo State COVID-19 Task Force, Chimezie Iwuala in Owerri, the Imo state capital on Tuesday.

The results followed a number of tests carried out on samples of members of the House by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. (NCDC), the spokesman said.

According to the spokesman, the affected lawmakers have been instructed to go into self-isolation.

On the other hand, Nelson Ezerioha, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Judiciary, also confirmed the development to The PUNCH on the phone but added that he doesn’t have the exact figure of his colleagues who tested positive for the disease.

His words: “You know it is against the law to disclose the identities of the carriers of the virus. The truth is that 26 out of the 27 of us, including the speaker, were tested and we have been receiving calls from the NCDC officials about our statuses.

“There are some of us who the NCDC told to go into self-isolation. I don’t know the figure and I am not going to speak on that. I was told by NCDC officials that I am negative.”

Meanwhile, this is coming a week after Collins Chiji, the Speaker of the House had ordered a total lockdown of the Assembly complex after one lawmaker tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement, the speaker had said the fumigation of the Assembly Complex would commence immediately.