A car carrying the corpse of suspected COVID-19 patient from Ibadan, Oyo state to Osun state haas been intercepted by the Police.
The car was intercepted around 6:30 PM on Sunday at the Odo Oba border along Ibadan/Iwo road by operatives enforcing lockdown order in Osun.
According to a source, the medical team at the border suspected the corpse to have died of COVID-19 in Oyo State.
According to Osun state police command, a Mazda 323 car, ash colour with registration number KFS 409 EH which was used to convey the corpse was driven by one Ismaila Ademola.
It was also learnt that the corpse was identified as Yusuf Ishola and the car used in conveying the corpse belongs to one Mrs. Texaco.
Osun Police Command, Yemisi Opalola said the vehicle was stopped because of the lockdown order in the state, while the driver directed to return to Oyo State because the medical team attached to the police point suspected that the deceased died of coronavirus.
The chairman, Iwo Local Government, Raji Kamoru, who spoke THE PUNCH, said policemen and health personnel stationed at the checkpoint were not convinced with the explanation of the occupants of the vehicle, when they stopped them.
He said when the team at the checkpoint told the occupants of the vehicle that they could not proceed, one of the occupants said to be sick suddenly started coughing and he died.
“They stopped the vehicle coming from Ibadan. One of the passengers started coughing and he died.
“The security men asked them some questions and they could not give a satisfactory explanation about where they were going. Immediately we were informed, myself and the DPO had to turn them back.
“In the first instance, when we told them to return to where they were coming from, they hid in the bush. But we found them and escorted them to the boundary and handed them over to policemen at Iyana Offa, Oyo State. They did not tell us where they were coming from and their destination,” Kamoru said.
When contacted, the Oyo State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Bashir Bello, said the state government will investigate the case, saying he was yet to be fully briefed.
Bello said: “Right now, I can’t fully ascertain the genuineness of the report. I’m yet to be fully briefed. Once we have adequate information, we will make it public.
“I can tell you that the state government is working day and night to make sure it contains the spread of the virus. Governor Makinde has made it as a matter of compulsion, the use of facemasks.”
