News

Abba Kyari dies of coronavirus as death toll hits 17

Mallam Abba Kyari

By Ezurike Ugochukwu

Mallam Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, who had tested positive of Coronavirus on the 23rd of March, 2020 is dead.

Kyari who had on March 29, issued a statement that he has chosen to make a private arrangement for his treatment in Lagos and would not wish to further burden the public health system died on Friday April 17, 2020.

In a press release on the twitter handle of the presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina early Saturday, funeral arrangements are to be announced soon.

He Twitted, “Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, passes on. May God rest his soul. Amen. Funeral arrangements to be announced soon.”

Adesina further said, “The Presidency regrets to announce the passage of the Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari. The deceased had tested positive to the ravaging COVID-19, and had been receiving treatment. But he died on Friday, April 17, 2020. May God accept his soul. Funeral arrangements will be announced shortly.”

However, the perceived secrecy surrounding the whereabout and management of Kyari’s medical condition further heightened the agitation by Nigerians for information about the most powerful chief of staff, a situation that may have given Credence to the speculations that he was flown abroad for treatment.

Kyari who was appointed Chief of Staff to the president in 2015 later got his appointment renewed after election victory of the president in 2019.

He had returned from Germany on March 14, after a week official visit alongside the power minister, Saleh Mamman.

According to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control(NCDC), Nigeria’s death toll increased to 17 on Friday from 13 on Thursday though it’s not yet confirmed whether Kyari is among the 17 confirmed death cases, even as confirmed infected persons are now 493, as 157 have been confirmed recovered and have been discharged.