By Uzor Odigbo
The Akwa Ibom State Government on Monday lamented that the 1,800 bags of rice sent to the state by Nigeria Customs Service as part of the Federal Government palliatives to cushion the effect of the measures taken to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus was not good for human consumption.
The state governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel, who stated this in Uyo during a press conference, however, said the government could not reject the palliative because it was a gift.
“As I am talking to you, the rice is in the warehouse. It is a gift. We have sent it for test and until the test result is out, we will not distribute it to our citizens. It is not good for consumption,” he said.
He noted that the state government would not distribute the rice because its colour has changed, adding that, “The only palliative we have gotten from the Federal Government is 1,800 bags of Customs bonded warehouse rice.”
On the index case , the governor stated that the state has only three active COVID-19 cases, and has collected a total of 84 samples so far for testing, adding that every single person who had to be tested for the disease has been tested.
He revealed that the state government recruited 200 additional medical doctors to the 407 already in the employment of the state in the fight against the pandemic.
He explained that it would be a waste of resources to go about testing those that should not be tested