River State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has placed parts of Port Harcourt, the state capital, on total lockdown as part of measures to ensure social distancing against the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the lockdown would begin from 6am on Sunday.
According to him: “While we commend our people for generally adhering to our restrictions on social distancing, we deplore the lack of compliance with the order on shutting business activities by some residents in parts of the Port Harcourt.”
He listed the affected areas as Creek road, including Prison junction, Nembe waterside, Cultural Centre, Yam Zone and Ahoada Street.
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Others are Diobu area, including education bus stop, Kalabari by Odi Street, Afikpo Street, Gambia Street, the entire Ikoku Spare part zone, Rivers State University roundabout, and Abali Park under the flyover (both descending and ascending).”
Wike said though the measures are painful, it was the right thing to do to check the spread of coronavirus in these areas.
He said: “All residents and visitors to these neighbourhoods must stay at home. All business premises, shops and commercial interactions must also cease in these places with immediate effect.
“We know how painful these measures are to the residents in particular, but at this critical moment, it is the right thing to do as a precaution to avoid potential exposure to and spreading of the virus from these areas.
“We have also noticed that stores and remote spaces are being converted to mini-markets in Obio/Akpor Local government Area by unscrupulous persons in defiance of the ban on market activities in the State.
“This should stop immediately, otherwise, we shall be compelled to lockdown the entire Local Government Area and deal with those flouting our directives and undermining our efforts.”
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“This is as dangerous and unacceptable. The State Government will in the next few days take appropriate actions against all transporters should they fail to immediately enforce social distancing practices and the mandatory use of sanitizers and face masks in their operations.
“We are equally monitoring the level of compliance to our restrictions on social gathering in all other local government areas and will take appropriate measures against communities that chose to imperil the lives of others by refusing to practice social distancing and operating within the prescriptions of the law.”
He added: “I wish to restate that we cannot have our livelihoods without first having our lives intact, just as we owe it to ourselves and to our fellow citizens the ultimate duty to save lives.
“The threat of this virous to our lives is incomparable to none and we must take every necessary measure, painful as some may be, to aggressively tackle it before it’s too late.
“This is real good news we must all celebrate and thank the Almighty God for answering our prayers and shielding our State from this dreadful epidemic, which has caused so much death and untold human misery across the world.
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“The reality is that the virus is well around us, and probably, could even be within us among asymptomatic carriers.
“This being so, we must all concede to the fact that our ambitious battle against the spread of the coronavirus within our State is clearly not yet over.
“We must therefore not be tempted or pressured to lower our safeguards until the threat is eradicated and we are totally and completely safe and free from this pandemic.”
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