Police mourns as COVID-19 claims life of DCP in Edo

In what is known to be the third death recorded from COVID- 19 in the state, is the passing of a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Benin City.

The DCP, who is attached to the Zone 5 headquarters of the Nigeria Police in Benin City, according to a source, fell ill on the 14th of April and he has been receiving treatment at the police clinic since then.

He was however, pronounced dead by doctors on Tuesday before he was moved to the isolation centre.

Officers of the Zone 5 headquarters have since been thrown into mourning over the loss of the DCP.

“We are in a mourning mood right now.” a police source said, describing the late Deputy Commissioner of Police as “a man vast in knowledge, who has gone through the mill in the police force.

Confirming the development, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Patrick Okundia, disclosed that the DCP died before he could get to an isolation centre.

“We had an unfortunate situation of a 57-year-old police officer who passed on yesterday. The story is not very clear how he got the infection but he developed some illnesses.”

According to him, “initially, there was no evidence of suspicion for Coronavirus disease but when the symptoms started getting worse he was treated at the police clinic.”

Okundia further explained that the state surveillance team were notified of his condition about two days to his death and the team swiftly took his blood sample and sent it to the laboratory, while he continued with his drugs.

“He was placed on self-isolation, however, the result came out and it was positive.

“We got to his house to move him out of his house only to discover that the man had died that same day. It is really unfortunate and the result came after the man had died,” Okundia said.