A researcher who identified a novel coronavirus
variant in Nigeria has cautioned against automatic assumptions that
it poses similar risks to strains that have emerged
elsewhere.
The new strain was uncovered last week by scientists at the
African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases
(ACEGID) in southeastern Nigeria.
ACEGID director Christian Happi said the variant was found in
two out of 200 samples of virus collected from patients between
August 3 and October 9.
The two samples were taken from the same state in Nigeria at
different times.
They show a variant “different to the one that has been
circulating in Nigeria, different from the one in South Africa and
different from the one in the UK,” he said in an interview with
AFP.
Britain tightened restrictions after finding a new strain there
that it said was more contagious than initial forms of the
virus.
South Africa says a new strain detected there could explain the
rapid spread of a second wave that has especially affected younger
people.
Happi stressed that scientists were racing to unlock knowledge
about the Nigeria strain and urged people not to “extrapolate.”
“We have no idea, no evidence to say that this variant is linked
to the spike we are seeing in Nigeria or not,” said Happi,
explaining that samples from the latest cases were being analysed
for an answer.
READ ALSO: New COVID-19 Strain Found In Nigeria
Not UK Variant – Expert
Nigeria has recorded more than 82,000 cases of Covid-19, of
which 1,246 were fatal.
Compared to the country’s population of some 200 million people,
this number is tiny.
However, the tally of cases has been rising by several hundred a
day since the start of December. There has been a major increase in
Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, prompting the authorities there
to reinstate a curfew and gatherings of more than 50 people.
But the number of deaths in Nigeria has not experienced a
proportionate surge.
Virus mutation
Happi, a Cameroon-raised, Harvard-trained professor of molecular
biology, works in a state-of-the-art lab in Ede, southeastern
Nigeria.
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It is one of only 12 in Africa designed to sequence viral
genetic code and track mutations — telltale changes that can be
used to build a family tree of the microbe.
From this, the scientists at Ede believe the variant evolved
“within Nigeria, I don’t think it was imported from anywhere,” said
Happi.
“When changes occur, what matters most, what we’re focusing on,
is the spike protein,” he said, referring to the prong-like protein
by which coronavirus latches onto a cell and infects it.
Happi said there was a “tendency to extrapolate” after a
discovery of this kind.
But he cautioned strongly against automatically assuming that
what happened in one population setting would also happen
elsewhere.
African difference?
“A lot of the models drawn at the onset of the pandemic, all got
it wrong,” he said.
“They were saying by now that a third of the African population
would be dead. So people need to think,” he said.
“It is very wrong to assume models based on knowledge that are
not accurate or on assumptions that are dependent on data obtained
from Europe or the US and transpose it to a continent like Africa —
we are genetically different, we are immunologically
different.”
All of Africa has recorded 2.4 million cases, according to an
AFP tally — just 3.6 percent of the global tally, although testing
is also far less widespread. The continent’s death toll of 57,000
is less than a fifth of that of the United States.
John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control
and Prevention, the African Union’s health agency, also urged
patience as scientists worked to understand the Nigerian
variant.
“Give us some time,” he said in a videoconference from Addis
Ababa. “It’s still very early.”
Nkengasong appealed to Africans not to let down their guard,
warning of the danger of a second wave of infection.
The Lagos State High Court in Igbosere has dismissed a
15-year-old suit by Edoh Emmanuel against Ganiyu Riliwan for
lacking in merit.
![image](/2020/10/lawreport.jpg")
The claimant had urged the court to order the defendant to pay
him N2.5million, being 10 per cent of the professional fee for a
service in the sale of a property.
![image](/2020/10/NWLRland.jpg")
He also sought 21 per cent interest on the sum less the $2,000
already paid him, with effect from March 14, 2005, until the
judgment is delivered and thereafter at 7.5 per cent per annum
until fully liquidated.
But the defendant, through its counsel John Oloyede, urged the
court to dismiss the suit because there was no valid contract
between parties.
He drew the judge’s attention to the fact that the court had
twice struck out the suit and that the claimant re-filed it to
waste the court’s valuable time and that of parties.
Oloyede recalled how the matter went through the police
investigation and was thrown out.
To him, such a case should not be allowed to pass through the
litigation process.
Justice Babajide Candide-Johnson, in his verdict, held that the
claimant did not establish the existence of any agent/principal
relationship with the defendant.
He said: “The amount of the purchase price of the house was not
stated nor proved.
“The importance of knowing the price the house was sold and
proof of it cannot be overemphasised as it is pivotal to the court
to determine the amount alleged or claimed by the claimant.
“A mere assertion and or pleaded statement of claim should not
be accepted without proof thereof. Apart from not proving the
purchase price, claimant also did not tender the scale of charges
pleaded.
“It is not within the court’s purview to go fishing and looking
for evidence to back up a claim by parties.
“The claimant asserts that there was a gentleman’s agreement
between both parties, but the court does not know if it was the
$2,000 paid that was agreed…
“The ambiguity surrounding this dispute is overwhelming and
unhelpful and the claimant has done less where he should have done
more.
“In line with the above reasoning, I hold that the claimant has
not satisfactorily proved his case.
“Therefore, the claimant’s reliefs fail and this suit is
dismissed. This is the judgment of the court.”