Nigeria, July 13 -- The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said about 26 per cent of emergency calls made to its centres last week were 'hoax' calls.

The Director- General of the agency, Chikwe Ihekweazu, made this known at the bi-weekly Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 briefing on Monday.

Mr Ihekweazu said some called to find out about the availability of the controversial COVID-19 drug from Madagascar, "but some said they were only calling to see if the emergency lines were actually functional."

He said such calls "clog the phone lines and make it difficult for individuals with genuine cases to contact the agency."

"26 per cent of all our calls last week were hoax calls. One in four of all the calls coming to the NCDC ...