The federal government has moved all medical supplies donated by Jack Ma Foundation to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja despite the fact that 65 per cent of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 are in Lagos State.
The 107 boxes of medical supplies, consisting of 40, 000 disposable protective clothing, 5.4 million face masks, 60, 000 face shields and 1.08 million detective test kits, weighing about 3, 000 pounds, arrived Lagos Tuesday morning for onward distribution to affected states.
Lagos is the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria with 32 confirmed cases. FCT has eight cases, Ogun three, while Edo, Oyo, Ekiti, Osun and Rivers have one case each.
But the federal government, through the Nigeria Air Force (NAF) Tuesday night moved all the donated materials from Lagos to the FCT where the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Mr. Abdullahi Mashi received the supplies.
The Commodore, Director of Public Relations, NAF, Ibikunle Daramola, said the supplies were airlifted in a single mission using the NAF C-130 HerculesAircraft (NAF 913) and handed over by the NAF aircrew to a delegation of the Federal Ministry of Health, led by Mashi.
Mashi, who inspected the items, said: “We thank NAF officers and men who participated in the airlift mission for their professional conduct. The donated items would go a long way in supporting government’s effort in curbing the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria.”
No reason was given why the supplies were moved from Lagos to Abuja.
