The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic across Africa is heading is gone past the 1,000 mark as of April 18, 2020. The casualties cut across age groups. From the death of a 6 year-old in Kenya, older patients in most instances and persons in the youth bracket.
While each death is reported with a sombre mood and with condolences to affected families, some of the casualties have united a country in grief, in other cases united the continent and people beyond Africa’s borders.
From top politicians – former presidents, prime ministers and lawmakers, to entertainment icons and top sportsmen, the virus has left in its wake prominent casualties who could hardly get the send-off they would have been accorded in “normal times.”
This article briefly profiles as many casualties as possible:
June 25: Ex-Nigerian governor succumbs
Abiola Ajimobi, a two-term governor in Nigeria’s southwestern Oyo State, was reported dead today with reports saying he had died from underlying health conditions after contracting coronavirus.
He passed away in Lagos at the age of 70. His death had been dispelled by the family last week when his situation reportedly intensified even though some journalists reported that he had died. At the time of his death, he was a deputy national chairman of the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC.
The current governor of Oyo, Seyi Makinde contracted the virus and recovered. Other sitting governors to have recovered include Kaduna State’s Ahmed El-Rufai and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State. Nigeria’s COVID-19 stats per John Hopkins Uni tallies as of June 24, 2020 were:
Confirmed cases = 22,020
Active cases = 13,865
Recoveries = 7,613
Number of deaths = 542
Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. I received with shock the death of Sen. Abiola Ajimobi—the immediate past governor of Oyo State. May Allah SWT ease the burden of the loss on the family and grant him the highest place in Jannah.— Senator Bala A. Mohammed (@SenBalaMohammed) June 25, 2020
Good night former GOVERNOR ABIOLA AJIMOBI of Oyo State. My sincere condolences to the family… RIP. pic.twitter.com/Rxym8ciGy6— Dele Momodu Ovation (@DeleMomodu) June 25, 2020
June 21: Veteran AP video, photo-journalist in Congo dies of COVID-19
John Bompengo, who covered Congo’s political turmoil as a freelance photographer and video journalist for The Associated Press over the course of 16 years has died, relatives said Sunday. He was 52.
The cause of death was complications due to the coronavirus. Bompengo had been hospitalized for about a week but his condition rapidly deteriorated Friday and he died the following day.
Bompengo had contributed to AP since 2004, including coverage of the Ebola outbreak in northern Congo, in 2018. He also worked for the U.N.-backed news service, Radio Okapi.
Andrew Drake, the AP’s Africa news director remembered Bompengo as a “stalwart colleague and an impressive storyteller.” “John could talk his way in and out of places where others couldn’t to get striking images,” Drake said.
“He had great
