Kaduna lockdown causing deaths – JNI

The Zaria branch of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) yesterday said research had shown a high rate of infant and maternal mortality caused by the prolonged lockdown on Kaduna state.

The chairman and secretary of the society, Abdullahi Yahaya and Mahmud A. Abdullahi, respectively, said this at a news conference in Zaria yesterday.

Yahaya said patients suffering from illness other than COVID19 were being denied access to healthcare due to what he termed “imprudent lockdown.”

He said if the intention of the lockdown was to save lives of citizens, more lives were being lost daily incomparable to COVID1-19 fatalities.

He added: “The death rate of patients that were denied proper access to their clinics is heartbroken. On top of the list are infant and maternal mortalities. Failure of the government to adopt participatory methodology and approach in planning and implementing the most effective safety measures has induced both formal and informal failure of the economic sector, many citizens have been rendered bankrupt.

“Peasant farmers are denied access to their farmlands, food stuff traders are finding it difficult to open their shops and hospitals are virtually reduced to coronavirus clinics. Above all, there is no meaningful welfare provision for the wellbeing of poor citizens,” he said.

Yahaya added that many families are now in distress, as their sources of livelihood have been scuttled and find it extremely difficult to put food on the table.