Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
There was palpable tension in Benue on Tuesday over allegation that some top management members of the Benue State University (BSU) have tested positive to COVID-19.
The rumour mill particularly mentioned the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Moses Kembe, his wife and eight other staff of the university among those who have allegedly tested positive to the virus.
This is even as management of BSU has denied that there was any case of COVID-19 in the institution.
Our correspondent gathered that the tension was further heightened on Tuesday when news got to town that the authority of the state owned institution shut down the school on Monday and had commenced decontamination of the entire campus by Tuesday.
When contacted for comments on the matter, Secretary of the State Action Committee on COVID-19 and Commissioner of Health and Human Services, Dr. Sunday Ongbabo would neither confirm or deny the report saying that the state government no longer mentions names of COVID-19 patients.
Ongbabo stated that the State Committee has stopped disclosing the identity of victims as it hitherto did, saying enough information has gone out on the COVID-19 pandemic adding that the public should assume that the next person has the virus, hence there was no need to disclose the identity of victims.
“This is not the time to be releasing the identity of those who have tested positive to the disease because it will further heighten tension in the state.
“As at yesterday, (Monday) the state had recorded 65 cases. Of the number, 44 have been treated and discharged”, Ongbabo said.
But reacting in a statement made available to Daily Sun, management of BSU, through its Principal Assistant Registrar, (Information & Public Relations), Tser Vanger Terzungwe, said the report remained an unconfirmed rumour.
“In the last 36 hours, or nearly so, the cyberspace, especially some social media blogs, have been awash with unconfirmed reports that very high number of staff of Benue State University, have been infected with the COVID-19 disease.
“It is very likely that these rumours (for that is what unconfirmed reports from authoritative sources are) may have been fired by the decision of the University authorities on Monday, 29th June, 2020, directing most non-teaching staff of the University to stay at home as from the following day.
“The truth of the matter is that all staff of the University had been staying, or working from, home since 20th March 2020 when the Federal government, through the National Universities Commission (NUC) directed all universities to close down in response to the COVID-19 challenge.
“After almost three months of the closure and when it was imminent that the agitation for the reopening of institutions of learning might compel the government to direct all institutions to reopen, authorities of Benue State University acted proactively by directing all non-teaching staff to resume work on the 8th of June, in anticipation of directives to reopen.
“However, on Monday, 29 June, the Federal Government came out with guidelines for possible reopening of institutions of learning, which did not include universities and other institutions of higher learning.
“It was the unveiling of these guidelines and their non-inclusion of universities that informed the decision of Management of Benue State University to issue another internal memo directing all staff on non-essential services to revert to the earlier directive of “work from home” or stay at home as dictated by the COVID-19 protocols.
Vanger said the decision was also meant to allow the specialists engaged by the University to fumigate the entire campus with ease.