Fresh Lockdown Scares Rivers Residents

Residents of Rivers State at the weekend expressed fears following threats by Governor, Nyesom Wike to return the lockdown strategy of fighting the Coronavirus pandemic.

The residents, especially persons living in the capital city comprising Port Harcourt and Obio-Akpor local government areas, said they could not afford another curfew, urging the government to jettison the idea.

“Returning to another lockdown is a suicide mission. We haven’t survived the series of partial and complete lockdowns earlier imposed by the government. Open markets are still shut. Survival has been difficult,” said a resident Ijeoma, who lives on Ada George said.

She appealed to the government to consider other measures promising to observe protocols of social distancing, wearing of face masks and regular washing of hands to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

Another resident, who identified himself simply as Edward, said there was no need for another lockdown and queried the results of previous curfews by the government.

He said: “We can see that despite the previous lockdowns, cases of the pandemic continued to rise in the state. The lockdown strategy has only succeeded in destroying the economy of the state. It has not prevented the spread of the disease. The government should, therefore, explore other strategies”.

But investigations revealed that with the increasing trend of COVID-19 cases in the state, the Governor might make good his threat.

On Sunday, a peep into the statistics of the National Council for Disease Control (NCDC), showed that the state recorded 204 cases and 13 deaths.

The situation reportedly assumed a worrisome proportion following deaths of high profile persons, including top government officials linked to the pandemic.

It was gathered that a top official in the Treasury Department located in the state secretariat died of suspected COVID-19 complications.

It was further learnt that five more persons in the Ministry of Finance also tested positive for oronavirus.

Persons, who visited the ill-fated block, were reportedly advised to isolate themselves for 14 days.

The death of the top shot in the treasury came a day after the Chairman of Asari Toru Local Government Area, Odiari Princewill, known as a strong loyalist of Wike, reportedly died of similar complications.

It was gathered the council boss breathed his last on Wednesday at about 10pm and was buried on Thursday morning at the Port Harcourt Cemetary.

Wike recently flayed the unserious attitude of residents towards the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic decrying their refusal to adhere to preventive measures of social distancing and wearing of face masks.

He regretted that as at Friday, 12 persons died of COVID-19 complications in the state despite measures he adopted to stop the spread of the disease.

He said: “Regrettably, we have observed that the advisories, directives and regulations on social distancing and the compulsory wearing of face masks are being ignored at alarming proportions in the State, much to our collective discomfort and peril.

“So many people are moving about on our streets and into other public places without face masks. We have sighted businesses, including banks and shopping centres attending to customers without face masks or maintaining physical distancing.

“We have also seen people on our streets buying and selling without face masks or observing social distancing in clear disregard of the ban on clustered trading activities and unauthorized social gatherings.

“These are all very irresponsible and risky behaviour in the face of the invisible and ravaging pandemic and the enormous threat it poses to public health and the safety of human lives.

“Those who continue to exhibit or encourage such callous behaviour or trivialize the fatal power of this virus or still live in denial of its existence are either insane or the worst enemies of mankind. Believe it or not, the transmission of this pandemic depends on our own individual behaviour, actions or inactions.

“We must therefore all strive to help ourselves, our families, our communities and our State by complying religiously with the laid down regulations and advisories on social distancing and wearing of face masks.

“While we have reserved the recourse to total lockdown for obvious reasons, it appears we may be forced to reinstate this drastic measure, sooner than later, if members of the public continue to flout, disregard and or abuse the established regulations on social distancing and the compulsory wearing of face masks in the state.”

Wike noted that the state could overcome the present global economic situation if citizens worked together in unity of thought and purpose.

He said: “Yes, we can if we resolve to downplay our individual differences and work together for the common good of our heritage, our lovely State, our communities and our people. As a government, we welcome constructive criticisms devoid of politics and mischief, because they serve to make us better performers.

“This is a time for governance, not politics, and we welcome everyone on board to create an environment that promotes balanced economic growth, thriving private investments, boundless opportunity and a State we can truly call our pride and heritage.

“For us, nothing matters more than Rivers State, our people, our interests, our treasures, our enormous resources and assets, our accomplishments and our greatness,” he said.