Karimatu Abubakar, mother of the director-general of the Department of State Services (DSS), Yusuf Magaji Bichi, is dead.
She died in Bichi town on Sunday night and was buried on Monday.
There has been an uptick in strange deaths in Kano, though the state government said they are not COVID-19 related.
On Sunday, Muhammad Garba, commissioner of information, asked residents not to panic “as government is on top of the situation and the mystery or whatever it is will soon be unravelled”.
In the past one week, the state has recorded multiple deaths, with Sabitu Shaibu, deputy head of the state task force on COVID-19 putting the toll at 640.
There were concerns that the deaths could be as a result of COVID-19 (Kano has 77 confirmed cases of coronavirus) but Garba attributed them to hypertension, acute malaria,and diabetes.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday commiserated with Yusuf Magaji Bichi, the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), on the death of his mother Hajiya Kareematu Abubakar Bichi.
In a tribute to the late community leader and matriarch, who died at the age of 96 in Bichi, Kano State, the President said: “I am deeply anguished by the passing away of Hajiya Kareematu, an important family and community leader. She will be remembered for her untiring efforts to unite the family and promote peace in her community.”
The President prays that Almighty Allah will receive Hajiya Bichi’s soul and grant the deceased family and friends the fortitude to bear the loss.