Africa Press-Nigeria:<\/p>\n
A Nigerian professor, Cyril Otoikhian, has challenged the Nigerian government and other scientists working on COVID-19 to prove the existence of the virus in the country.<\/p>\n
The professor of genetics at the Novena University, Delta State, in a Monday morning programme on Channels TV, shocked his interviewers when he argued that the virus does not exist as there has been no known evidence to prove its existence.<\/p>\n
Mr Otoikhian claimed there was secrecy surrounding the diagnosis of the disease in the country. He said that suggested that the disease does not exist.<\/p>\n
He claimed the controversy in Cross River State, where the government claimed for a prolonged period that there were no COVID-19 cases within its territory, was expected as the federal government has not been open in its handling of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
There have been lots of unscientific claims about the existence of COVID-19 in Nigeria and elsewhere.<\/p>\n
After he recovered from the disease, the founder of DAAR Communications, owners of African Independent Television and Raypower FM, Raymond Dokpesi, said the disease was not much different from malaria.<\/p>\n
But because Mr Otoikhian is a scientist and researcher, his claim appeared to have shocked his interviewers and this reporter sensed utter disbelief in their eyes as the professor responded to questions.<\/p>\n
The lecturer remained unconvinced that the COVID-19 exists despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) confirming it as the infectious disease ravaging the world.<\/p>\n
The virus and the disease it caused were unknown before the outbreak began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.<\/p>\n
COVID-19 is now a pandemic, affecting many countries around the world. The disease has infected close to 12 million people and killed 541, 086 of them.<\/p>\n
Nigeria as of Monday recorded over 29, 000 confirmed cases and 654 deaths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Africa Press-Nigeria: A Nigerian professor, Cyril Otoikhian, has challenged the Nigerian government and other scientists working on COVID-19 to prove the existence of the virus in the country. The professor of genetics at the Novena University, Delta State, in a Monday morning programme on Channels TV, shocked his interviewers when he argued that the virus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":22818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[1451,728],"class_list":["post-27059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-covid-19","tag-who"],"yoast_head":"\n