Ebonyi governor Umahi orders payment of April salaries as NAU refutes alleged case

Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi has directed immediate payment of April 2020 salaries to civil servants in state.

The governor, however, refuted claims that he ordered security operatives to shoot on site any of the arrested 37 returnees who entered Ebonyi through the bush after he ordered shut down of its borders while attempting to escape from a quarantine centre.

“I said I was isolating whoever escaped. We have 30 Ebonyi people who escaped through the bush. One trailer loaded them from the bush and we have seven persons from Abia, Cross River, Delta, Onitsha and Rivers.

“So, we are taking the 37 of them and we have prepared an isolation centre in the stadium and we will feed them three times daily. The medical team will examine them and they will stay here for 14-days,” he explained.

Meanwhile, management of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU), Awka has dismissed rumours that Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Charles Esimone, has tested positive for coronavirus.

In a statement issued in Awka, Acting Head, Information and Public Relations Unit, Mrs. Chika Gladys Ene, told newsmen that the rumour was false, insisting that there was no coronavirus in NAU.

“The attention of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University has been drawn to a story that Vice Chancellor, Professor Charles Okechukwu Esimone, tested positive for COVID-19 and has been quarantined. This is false and should be disregarded,” the statement added.