Covid-19: My Son’s Ordeal – Abubakar Atiku

By Gideon Njoku

For former Vice President, and the PDP Presidential candidate in the 2019 general election, Abubakar Atiku,  it is  a double-decked pain.

On the one hand,  Atiku is dealing with every parent’s nightmare. The pain of not knowing what the fate of a beloved son would be; a son who has suddenly been struck down by a deadly disease; a disease which is hell bent on wiping out a good chunk of the world’s population.

On the other hand, he is dealing by the many speculations surrounding how and where his son contracted the disease, and how he packaged himself before he was evacuated to a hospital.

Sunday night, the former Vice President had shocked not a few Nigerians when he tweeted that his son had tested positive to the deadly Coronavirus. He said he had been evacuated by personnel of the NCDC, and placed in the isolation facility at the Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital, Abuja, where he is being treated. Atiku asked Nigerians to remember his son in their prayers for his recovery.

Even though he did not disclose the particular son’s name, being a man of many sons, his tweet attracted instant praise and sympathy, from many people, including Nigeria’s First Lady, Aisha Buhari.

But the initial reaction has since given way to what one of Atiku’s daughters described as malicious and unfounded allegations against his brother which give the impression that he knew his Coronavirus-status, and began to spread it by deliberately visiting places where he had contacts with many people. He, allegedly, visited a night club in Abuja, and also attended a Jumat worship last Friday.

It was also alleged that he was forced to call the NCDC, and had resisted going to the hospital.

In a video outing, without disclosing her name, but which disclosed that of her brother, an emotional Miss Atiku said it was no longer news that her brother, Mohammed, is infected with Coronavirus and is being treated in a hospital in Abuja. But she decried the stories making the rounds that he went on a deliberate infection-spree.  She asked that such wicked stories be stopped forthwith.

However, stung by the incorrect speculations concerning his son’s itinerary, the former Vice President has laid it bare, and gave an insight into what the younger Atiku went through.

In a press release signed on his behalf by his media aide, Paul Ibe, the former Vice President, sought to set the records straight. He said his son neither went to a night club, nor any Mosque.

Explaining the sequence of events, the statement said: “For the purpose of putting the records straight, and dispelling false narratives about the itinerary of a son of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, currently  undergoing treatment for Coronavirus (CORDIV 19), I wish to make the following clarifications.

“The clinical case returned to the country on 17th March, from some business engagements in France and Switzerland.

“He attended a private meeting of six (6) persons same day in Lagos, and stayed in his private house for the night, and took an Aero 5.20 pm flight to Abuja on the 18th.

“The case did not travel with his family, or any other, but travelled alone by Emirates Airline. The case wore a face mask as a precautionary measure since his arrival in Nigeria.

“The case did not show symptoms of infection, and voluntarily placed a call to NCDC on arrival in Abuja to inform them that he had returned from a COVID-19 prone country, and desired to be tested.

“On the 19th, the NCDC took his blood sample which result came positive on the 20th. He subsequently went into self-isolation to protect his family in his own house.

“We urge members of the public to ignore the perfidious information that the case accessed open locations. He was neither at Play Lounge nor any other Lounge in Abuja as being mischievously bandied about.

“The case neither attended the Friday Jumu’a prayers, nor any other gathering until his evacuation to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital on the 20th, where he is being treated and managed”

Meanwhile, according to the release, the case’s son has tested negative to the virus, while the result for his wife’s status is being awaited against Tuesday.

However, those who came into contact with him are many. They include  Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed,  and his aides all of whom are now on a self-14-day isolation.

It is believed that those who, also, had contacts with the Governor, including some of his Governor -colleagues, are quietly in self isolation.

This magazine was told that while all those who held a meeting with Atiku  Jnr, in Lagos, are in self isolation, frantic, but difficult efforts are being made to track those who were on the same flight with him on both Emirates and Aero Contractor Airlines