A top officer of the Nigerian Army Olu Irefin has died of complications from COVID-19.
Irefin, a major-general and general officer commanding(GOC) six division, in Port-Harcourt, Rivers state died during the ongoing Annual Chief of Army Staff Conference and had buried his mother in Kogi a few weeks ago.
The event which is taking place in Abuja had the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari addressing participants virtually when it kicked off a few days ago.
The conference has however been cancelled by the army with participants comprising principal staff officers, GOCs, commandant of army schools, commanders of army operations being asked to go into isolation for 14 days.
Sagir Musa, Acting Director, Army Public Relations, announced the cancellation of the conference in a statement on Thursday, saying it was to prevent any further spread of the disease.
“The Nigerian Army wishes to inform members of the public that due to resurgence of COVID 19 Pandemic in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja in what appears to be a second wave of infection cycle and the unfortunate incident on Tuesday 8 December 2020, where an officer participating in the ongoing Chief of Army Staff’s Annual Conference 2020 here in Abuja tested positive to COVID 19, the remaining activities of the conference have therefore been immediately cancelled,” he said.
Musa stated further that “all the participants have been mandated to immediately proceed on self-isolation in line with the Federal Government’s protocol for COVID 19 and to prevent any further spread of the disease.
“All inconveniences hereby regretted, please. Thanks for your usual understanding and cooperation.”
Given the contagious effect of the disease, there has been widespread apprehension among those who were at the programme.
Present were the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, the Chief of Air Staff, Sadique Abubakar, Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi Olonisakin and several highly ranked officers in the Nigeria army.
By Abel Ejikeme
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