How Deputy Commissioner Of Police Died Of Covid-19

MICHAEL AKINOLA

Facts have emerged on how a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Edo State, DCP Francis Adie Bissong, died of complication from the dreaded Covid-19 virus.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that DCP Bissong, who was the DC State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in Benin, passed away on Tuesday, 21 April, 2020, after attack by the virus which has kept the world in panic for several months.He was also DCP in charge of Zonal Criminal Investigations Department, Zone 5 Benin.
The death may have revealed the health hazards the officers of the Nigeria Police are facing since the virus broke out in Nigeria.The health workers may be said to be receiving some health hazards allowance but nobody talks of the plight of the Police officers.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), on Tuesday, announced three new casualties as the country reached an unprecedented triple-digit for confirmed cases for the first time.One hundred and seventeen persons were infected, more than a 400 per cent surge.
DCP Bissong is the first documented security personnel to succumb to the virus in Nigeria and more could follow. Although not endangered as much as the healthcare workers in the country, the law enforcement agents face the risk of contracting the virus in the course of enforcing lockdown.

While the medics receive all the attention in terms of protection kits and welfare, Police officers have none of such since the outbreak.It was confirmed that 95 Chinese Police officers have died in the fight against the Coronavirus, in contrast, 46 medical workers lost their lives.This figure may be peculiar to the Asians, however,  it reflects the risk hazards of the Police officers in Nigeria hence the need for better welfare and protection for security personnel cannot be overemphasized and needed to be addressed.

How the late DCP Bissong contracted the virus has not been disclosed but certainly he may have contracted it in the  course of his duty.