BY MARY KUYE
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has declared a 24-hour total lockdown and dusk-dawn curfew on Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas as part of measures to check the spread of coronavirus in the state.
Broadcasting on Monday, Wike said all residents of Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt City Local Government Areas must stay at home.
Wike’s words: “On no account should there be any vehicular movements or gathering of more than two persons in these Local Government Areas, except those on essential services with appropriate authorization;
” All shops, trading or business activities, including currency exchange, in these Local Government Areas must also remain closed until further notice.
“All landlords are advised to ensure that no shop or trading activity is opened or carried out in or around their premises or risk the confiscation of their property by the Government.
“Any person, group or institution that violates the lockdown and curfew in these Local Government Areas will be made to face the full wrath of the law. ”
The Governor directed the immediate arrest and prosecution of Chief B.A. Worgu and Mr Isaiah Abraka for sneakily organising night markets in defiance of an existing ban on such activity.
He said given the threat posed to the State by oil and gas company workers, it has reviewed all entry waivers and permits earlier granted to oil and gas companies.
According to him: “(i) from now on, requests for waivers and entry permits from oil and gas companies will be considered on a case by case basis;
“(ii) all inward-bound vehicles and flights into Rivers State from oil and gas companies with workers for crew change or other essential operations must first submit details of their manifests to the State’s taskforce on COVID-19 for proper vetting of their virus status before they can be allowed to enter the State;
“(iii) all operators of chartered flights into Rivers State for oil and gas operations, especially Bristow and Caverton Helicopters, should please comply with this directive and refrain from jeopardizing the lives of our people for the sake of making profits.
He warned the Chief Medical Director of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital to stop politicizing coronavirus in the state