Chinelo Obogo
Former governor of Lagos State and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has revealed that his Chief Security Officer (CSO), Lateef Raheem, who recently passed away, died of COVID-19.
In a statement, he revealed that immediately after the death of Raheem, officials of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) took samples from his late aide’s body to determine the cause of his death and the test result.
He said as a precautionary, he, along with his wife, Senator Remi Tinubu and all their aides took the COVID-19 test on Saturday, April 25 and all the test result came back, yesterday, showing that he, his wife and other aides were negative except one. He advised Lagosians not to dismiss the devastating effect of the virus and not to stigmatise those who have been infected with it.
“Covid-19 is a real and present threat. Those of us who discount it or claim it is a fabrication do a grave and dangerous disservice to the public well-being. Likewise, those who stigmatise people who may have been stricken by the virus also do a disservice by casting blame on the innocent and discouraging people from taking the COVID test. We cannot defeat this health menace through ignorance or by shaming one another. We can only beat it through transparency, knowledge and compassion. This, we have learned first-hand.