COVID19: C/River state government claim people are paid millions to claim they have the virus

The Cross River State Commissioner for Health Dr Betta Edu has claimed in a video that some persons who are believed to be the National Center For Disease Control NCDC, are paying citizens of the state for them to claim to have tested positive for the Coronavirus disease.

The Coronavirus pandemic which has been ravaging the world has recently gotten into Nigeria, where it has infected close to two thousand persons and killed more than 40 Nigerians so far.

The disease has now spread to 33 states including the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria out of the 36 states of the federation. However, no case has been reported in Cross River State so far. This has prompted several persons to come with different narratives, some who have said that the state is deliberately not reporting on positive cases in the state while some other persons are of the opinion that it is the state government's efforts that have successfully combatted the surge of the virus.

The Cross River State Commissioner for Health has now stated that citizens of the state are coming forward to show state officials text messages where they are being offered millions of naira to publicly claim that they have the Coronavirus disease.

These claims have necessitated calls from some persons in the state to call on the Nigerian government to investigate those claims. According to Agba Jalingo, a journalist from Cross River State, the claims call for "massive investigation".