Let Treatment of COVID-19 Disease Not Look Like A Secret Cult – HURIWA Tells Govt.
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has declared that the Federal Government’s warning to COVID-19 survivors to stop giving details of the drugs used for their treatment, so as not to encourage self-medication has further strengthened the conspiracy theories about the certainty of the rate of spread of the pandemic in Nigeria.
HURIWA pointedly said that it is akin to telling the entire World that what the Nigerian Presidential Task force on the COVID-19 has been doing is to engage in voodooism contrary to the expectations of 21st century compliant scientific inquiries and research in line with best global practices.”
The Civil Rights Advocacy group therefore condemned in strong terms what it described as “the Federal Government’s lacklustre and unscientific methods” of handling the whole issues of containment, treatments and finding pragmatic cures to the dreaded COVID-19 disease in the country.
HURIWA specifically said that gagging citizens from disclosing their treatment regime whilst in the COVID-19 Isolation Centre amounts to curtailing their constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms of expression and information as enshrined in Chapter 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria of 1999 as amended section 39(1).
It further said that there is heightened public cynicism about the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria by the Presidential Task Force dominated by politicians and persons not vast in the field of Sciences.
According to HURIWA; “A government that tries to gag the citizens to stop talking about how they become well again after suffering from the unfortunate affliction of COVID-19 and a government that against all rational opposition proceeded with the feeding of ghost pupils in the guise of school feeding programme has only succeeded in making people to have doubts regarding the combating of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.”
It noted that the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha asked Nigerians to stop disclosing the treatments they got for their COVID-19 ailment saying that his statement followed recent revelations by some high-profile survivors, who spoke about the drugs administered on them during their treatment.
HURIWA quoted the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 Mr. Boss Mustapha as stating as follows: “The PTF congratulates and appreciates the testimonies of Nigerians who have recovered from COVID-19, which has given us more insights and further strengthens the need to adhere strictly to guidelines issued. However, an emerging issue from all these testimonies is the issue of prescription for treatments. We should always remember that the symptoms of COVID-19 mimic some illnesses we already know but treating the symptoms is not the same as treating the virus. For this reason, we strongly discourage self-medication.”
HURIWA however said the statement by Mustapha runs contrary to section 39(1) of the Nigerian constitution of 1999 as amended which guarantees freedom of expression and also offends Section 22 which is on the functions and powers of the media as the national conscience.
It specifically said that the Freedom of Information Act of the Federal Republic of Nigeria would be voided should the “illegal” push by Boss Mustapha to gag the citizens and bar them from giving testimony on their recovery from COVID19, adding that the attempt by Boss Mustapha to gag Nigerians equally violates the Freedom of Religion since most religions permit survivors to render public testament of their survival from life threatening illnesses.
