Bello was speaking while playing host to the Board of Trustees of Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, who paid him a visit in his office in Lokoja.
The governor said COVID-19 was not a new disease in Nigeria’s climate.
He further said that the state’s Chief Judge, Nasiru Ajanah, died a natural death, urging the people not to attribute his death to anything other than natural as is being insinuated by certain persons for political and mischief purposes.
He said, “Let us stop this game, Nigerians are suffering, instead of the lockdown with its attendant negative effects on the people, why can’t we turn it to employment opportunities, providing clothes for face masks to be imported to those countries who have the disease.
“COVID-19 is not a new disease in our climate, we have our own way of treating it, that is what we should be exploiting rather than subjecting our people to hardship, hunger, and starvation through the lockdown.
“The late Chief Judge, Justice Nasir Ajanah, had been managing his health since 2016. We know his medical history, he was my brother, we know we have been managing him since 2016 but this time, he was completely isolated, no one was allowed to even speak to him until he passed away, we cannot afford to be playing games with the lives of Nigerians, this must stop.”