*Governor Wike, the strongman of Rivers State
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has announced a partial lockdown of Port Harcourt metropolis. He said it was coming as a failure of residents of the affected areas to comply with the regulations of the state government to check the spread of the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Rivers State. He said in his Monday broadcast that the complete lockdown of the affected areas will however begin on Tuesday.
The tough-talking governor said, “In view of the non or passive compliance with these measures, it has become compelling to also place the following parts of Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas on 24 hours complete lockdown, beginning from Tuesday, 28 April 2020, till further notice. Elekahia, including the entire stretch of Rumukalagbor-Elekahia link road, Rumuomasi, including Stadium road and Rumuobiokani.
“All residents in these areas must stay at home. All shops, mini-markets, offices and business outfits in these areas must also cease to operate until further notice. Landlords in these areas must take personal responsibility to enforce this lockdown as we will not hesitate to pull down any commercial building or structure that opens to business in violation of this specific directive. We are also watching the conduct of residents and traders in Rumuokoro, Rumuokurusi and Oyigbo who are refusing to adhere to the government’s ban and restrictions on business and social gathering in the state. We appeal to the leaders of these communities to enforce the established restrictions or risk the imposition of a total lockdown on their communities.”
He blamed security agencies whom he accused of unprofessional conduct that is robbing off negatively on Rivers State. He added, “These unscrupulous security officers are deliberately putting our state and the lives of our people at risk as our health system can hardly cope, should there be a surge in Covid-19 cases. To contain this threat therefore, we will be inaugurating the state’s Taskforce on Border Closure on Tuesday, April 28, 2020 to effectively monitor our boundaries and ensure that no unauthorized person and or vehicle leaves or enters our state under any guise in breach of the lockdown order.”
