Nasarawa State Government has cautioned residents against spreading fake news on coronavirus that could cause panic in the state.
Mr Dogo Sammah, the state’s Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lafia.
Shammah said that residents needed to be patriotic by not joking or playing politics with issues concerning the health and security of the country.
“The public should rely only on information from government and experts on COVID-19 and not allow themselves to be misled by some unpatriotic elements whose aim is to cause confusion,” he said.
The Commissioner also called on the public to disregard rumour that Gov. Abdullahi Sule was in self-isolation describing it as fake news.
According to Shammah the rumour that the governor is in self-isolation is not true as he is well and sound.
“This kind of rumour will not help the system and the current efforts that are being made to contain the spread of the virus in the state.
“People should allow experts and government to do what is necessary towards ensuring that no case is recorded in the state.
“This virus is very dangerous and more serious than we think, there is no way anyone no matter his or her status will have it and the government would cover-up,” he said.
Shammah called on residents not to panic as the government was working round the clock to curtail the spread of the virus.
He explained that the government has set up an additional five isolation centres in addition to the earlier two at Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital Lafia and Federal Medical Centre, Keffi.
He added that the Task Force set up by the state governor on COVID-19 was working to ensure that members of the public were aware of things they were supposed to do.
He said that the Task Force would soon come up with messages on measures to be taken to avoid the virus in different local languages in the state to sensitize residents. (NAN)
