Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Barely 24 hours after Bayelsa governor, Senator Douye Diri warned Bayelsans against defying the directives of social gathering; he has imposed a curfew in the state to enforce social distancing.
The state which is currently on partial lockdown has allowed activities to go unhindered but there have been several cases of breach especially by fun seekers in the night.
Diri had through his acting Chief Press Secretary, Mr Dan Alabrah explained that the order restricting gathering at worship centres, which was restored after the Easter celebrations, was in force and that no form of gathering is permitted no matter the number of persons.
“The total lockdown on any form of gathering, including worship centres, is in force. No kind of gathering even in churches is permitted after the Easter celebrations. The order is that worship services, no matter the number of persons, are prohibited for now. People should meet in their homes and not in worship centres,” he said.
Investigations revealed that based on expert advice by the State Task Force for COVID-19 and the warning reinforced by the alert raised by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control that COVID-19 would spread to all states in the country, Diri had decided to impose the curfew from 7pm to 6am to ensure Bayelsans stay at home.
A statement from the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Information and Orientation, Mr Freston Akpor said the curfew begins from Sunday April 19.
“Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has approved the imposition of a dusk to dawn curfew as part of measures to prevent the Covid-19 pandemic in the state. The curfew which takes effect from today sunday April 19th, 2020 will restrict movements between seven o’clock in the evening to six o’clock in the morning” the statement stated.
Akpor explained that the five day curfew is part proactive measures initiated to further reinforce the ban on social gatherings particularly night clubs, beer palour, bar and nocturnal worship activities to enhance social distancing.
The statement said the curfew will be observed across the state and security personnel have been placed on high alert to ensure compliance.
Meanwhile investigations have revealed that 150,000 persons have been screened at the four entry points in the state namely Adagbabiri, Glory LandDrive, , Igbogene and Okaki while surveillance is still ongoing in the eight local government areas of the state.
Reports gathered also indicated that the task force committee headed by the permanent secretary has been briefed on the state of the isolation facilities