– Governor Bello of Niger state has announced the lockdown of the state in a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic in the state
– The governor’s action follows the confirmation of the state’s first COVID-19 case on Friday
– The lockdown comes into effect from Monday, April 13, just as all the religious activities in the state remain suspended
Governor Abubakar Bello has declared the total lockdown of Niger state from Monday, April 13, in a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic in the state.The Nation reports that Governor Bello also stated that all religious activities in the state should remain suspended until further notice.
The announcement of the lockdown follows the confirmation of the state’s first COVID-19 case on Friday, April 10.
The state’s index case came from Limawa Area in Minna, according to Niger state’s Commissioner of Health, Dr. Muhammad Maikusidi.
Governor Bello has also reportedly directed the state’s COVID-19 taskforce to isolate the area for 14 days.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has hinted that it may extend the lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun state to prevent the spread of coronavirus pandemic in the country.
This emerged a few days to the end of the current 14-day of coronavirus lockdown.
It was gathered that the chairman of the task force and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said that with what is happening in other countries, it could be easily deduced what the decision of the president would be on the lockdown.
Mustapha said the team had briefed President Muhammadu Buhari on the assessment of the nation’s response so far, adding that more evaluation of the process continues.
Similarly, the Director-General of the Progressives Governors Forum, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, has called on the Federal Government to extend the COVID-19 lockdown nationwide.
Appraising the success of the two-week lockdown at the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Ogun states by President Buhari, Lukman expressed disappointment over the attitude of certain state governors.
According to him, a national lockdown was necessary for the country not to throw away the gains achieved by its proactive measure of the last two weeks.
In a statement issued on Saturday, April 11, the APC chieftain also expressed concern over the perceived distrust by the National Assembly towards federal agencies and committees saddled with the task of mitigating the effect of the lockdown announced by President Buhari.
SOURCE: Legit.ng