Obaseki, Umahi Declare Curfew in Edo, Ebonyi

Obaseki, Umahi Declare Curfew in Edo, Ebonyi

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State and his counterpart in Ebonyi State Governor, Chief David Umahi, have declared curfew in their states as part of the efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19.

The Ebonyi State governor on Saturday night, imposed a curfew between 7p.m and 7a.m daily in the state.

Umahi, who made the declaration in a broadcast, said the curfew would commence yesterday.

He said, “I hereby direct a total lockdown of the entire state from 7a.m to 7p.m and anybody found outside within this period must be arrested and prosecuted. Only those offering essential services such as security agents, health workers, media workers, who must have pass, are exempted.

“We have agreed to have seven blockages in each border location. Each entry point of Ebonyi State will have seven blockages. The first one at the boundary between us and another state will be manned by the army and army alone.”

Obaseki, has also announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew effective from today, April 20, 2020, prohibiting the movement of people throughout the state from 7p.m to 6a.m, as part of measures to halt the spread of COVID-19 in the state.

Obaseki, who disclosed this in a broadcast, noted that the order will be reviewed after 10 days, when increased screening and testing of citizens in the state must have been achieved.

The curfew, according to the governor, is part of additional measures to ensure that people stay at home and prevent further spread of the infectious disease.

“We realise we need to do more social distancing at this time. Therefore, we are taking additional measures to ensure that people stay at home. Consequently, with effect from tomorrow 20th April an order prohibiting movement of people in Edo State from 7p.m to 6a.m. This order will be reviewed after 10 days when we have increased our screening and testing of our citizens. The security agencies, by this directive, are mandated to enforce total compliance by ensuring that movement is restricted at night across the State,” he said.

Obaseki, noting that the testing centre at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) is ready to commence operation, said Edo State will in the next few days begin testing for 1000 residents daily.

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