ANKARA

Nigerian Authorities are investigating “mysterious deaths” occurred in recent days in the state of Kano, as the country is fighting the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, an official said.

“Over the past week there have been reports of mysterious deaths in our great Kano State and I’m here to assure everyone that investigations are already ongoing,” Kano’s Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said on Twitter on Monday.

“Autopsies are still being carried out but so far there’s been nothing to suggest that they are linked with #COVID19,” Ganduje said.

Last Tuesday, the Daily Trust newspaper had reported that around 150 people died in Kano over the past five days, prompting investigations to determine whether they were related to COVID-19.

On Wednesday, the governor denied that Kano had recorded any “strange” deaths in the wake of the deadly pandemic, according to the Premium Times local website.

Ganduje’s comments on Monday sparked reactions on Twitter.

“Please tell the truth, at what point did you carry out Autopsy? These are Muslims and most of them died at home and were buried almost immediately according to Islamic injunction. Again I asked at what point was Autopsy conducted Mr. Gandola?,” a Twitter user questioned.

“How do you perform an autopsy on buried bodies? Did you exhume them?” another user commented.

The Nigerian authorities have confirmed 1,337 COVID-19 cases, and 40 deaths from the deadly contagious disease, according to the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.