Nasir Ajanah, the chief judge of Kogi state who died at an COVID-19 isolation centre in Abuja on Sunday morning, has been buried.
Yahaya Bello, Kogi State Governor, temporarily set aside his differences with the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to attend the burial at Gudu, Abuja.
He had been at loggerheads with the NCDC, arguing that there is no single COVID-19 case in Kogi.
The interment was conducted in compliance with the COVID-19 burial protocol set by the NCDC.
Ajanah, who was buried at the COVID-19 section of the cemetery, was brought to the Gwagwalada isolation centre, Abuja, from Kogi state early June after showing signs consistent with COVID-19 symptoms.
He was at the isolation for about three weeks before passing away, TheCable learnt.
Before his body was moved to the burial ground, the Muslim janaza prayers for the dead were said for him at the premises of the isolation centre.
Officials, dressed in white overalls with face shields, gloves and boots, drove the body to the burial ground in their ambulance.
The burial was done under strict security, with photographing completely banned.
Police officers, who said they were acting on Bello’s instruction, threatened to seize the phone of anyone who took pictures or recorded videos at the burial ground.
There is yet no official confirmation that he died from the coronavirus disease as the state government has continued to insist that Kogi is free of the pandemic.
TheCable understands that Ajanah had been battling medical issues for a while, and the underlying conditions might have hastened his death.
Abdulateef Suleiman, personal assistant to Bello and Ibrahim Shaibu Atadoga, the president of the Kogi customary court of appeal in the state, are both believed to have died from COVID-19 complications, although the state government has refused to confirm or deny.