Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki, Aloysius Attah, Onitsha, George Onyejiuwa, Owerri, David Onwuchekwa, Nnewi, Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha, Fred Itua, Abuja and Dorothy Onyeka
Ebonyi Governor,Chief David Umahi,yesterday, directed the state Accountant General and 13 council chairmen to work out modalities and immediately ensure the payment April salaries to workers to enable them make vital purchases and be financially buoyant during the two weeks partial lockdown of the state.
Governor Umahi gave the directive in Abakaliki during a state wide broadcast on preventive measures taken by the government to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Umahi appealed to those selling foodstuffs and other essential commodities in the state not to hike the prices of foodstuffs in order to avoid creating more economic hardship on the people.
Reacting to the Monday kidnap of two Chinese expatriates at Ishiagu area of the state,Umahi blamed the development to the redeployment of the security personnel attached to the Chinese men to the boundary areas.
He directed the Chairman of Ivo, leadership of herdsmen in the area and security agencies to facilitate the immediate release of the Chinese.
“We have reports that security personal posted to the boundaries compromise and assist people who wants to come into the state to have their way despite our warnings. We will not hesitate to hold them responsible should anything go wrong. Any policeman or soldier who is not on essential duty and wants to come into the state would be arrested. The directives does not exempt anyone. Anyone one who is not on essential service and comes into the state would be arrested and prosecuted,” he said.
Prices of foodstuffs skyrocket in Onitsha
Anambra state went into its second day of lockdown with citizens complaining of exorbitant prices of foods and essential commodities as most traders complied with the directive not to open their shops. Banks remained closed and fewer number of vehicles plied the roads, with the bubbling city of Onitsha appearing like a lonely child.
Daily Sun also learnt that security personnel were harassing and extorting shop owners and tricycle riders of huge sums of money for not complying with the closure and reduction in the number of passengers that they carry.
Some residents in their anger stoned members of the Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra, Ocha Brigade within Awka area for confiscating people’s wares and goods within the Unizik temporary site junction.Transport fares have gone up within Onitsha and Nkpor as shuttle buses now charge N200 from the previous N50 to N70 fare.
A tuber of yam that normally sold for N350 within Ochanja and Nkpor markets now goes for N600. A paint container of garri which was sold for N600 now goes between N1,200 to N1,500. Prices of noodles, cereals, rice and other staple foods in Onitsha also rose.
There were fears that the economic implication of the closure of commercial activities in Onitsha would bite harder on residents in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, former secretary to the Anambra state government, Oseloka Obaze, has called for the mandatory testing in people in the 36 states who are symptomatic and even asymptomatic simultaneously.
“If you contain infection rates in Abuja and Lagos, but the virus persists untracked in others states, the R Value – the number of people infected by one infected person – will subsist, more so if an errant infected traveler reinfect people in states where infection is already contained,” he said.
Imo residents lament closure of markets
Imo residents have lamented the indefinite closure of all major markets in the state, saying the impact was unbearable. This comes even as the order by the governor that all motor parks be shut in the state was flouted by commercial bus and cab drivers who carried on with their business conveying commuters to their destination as if there was no such order.
Mrs. Nkechi Onwuliri, a resident of Royce road in Owerri metropolis, said that it was wrong for the government to shut down markets indefinitely, including small scale (commonly called petty shops) whee beverages, medicines and toiletries are sold.
“Security agents have been going from street to street to make sure that no provision store where the people could buy what they want was open. Now, what does the government want us to do? The problem we have now is hunger and not Coronavirus and the government has not provided food for anyone,” she said.
Damian a civil servant and a resident of Iheugba street in Owerri, wondered how the governor would ask civil servants to stay at home without salaries because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Asking civil servant to remain at home without salaries and then you shut the markets, I have not received my salary, so how do I feed my family when there is no salary and the markets are closed?” Damian lamented.
NAUTH says no cause for alarm
Chief Medical Director of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Prof. Anthony Igwegbe, has debunked the rumours of a COVID-19 suspect in the hospital and the quarantining of the hospital isolation centre.
He, however, assured that the specimen of any suspected patient would be taken to Irrua Specialist Hospital, Edo State for investigation and other necessary actions..
Meanwhile, as the COVID-19-forced stay home enters its second day in the state, there was non compliance to the directive in Nnewi, yesterday, a situation that had prompted the Anambra State government through the Nnewi North Council Chairman, Chukwudi Orizu, to engage town criers and other security operatives to warn residents against flouting the order. They indicated government’s readiness to enforce the order with effect from today.
APGA lauds Obiano’s proactive measures
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Anambra State has commended Governor Willie Obiano’s proactive measures to prevent the outbreak of COVID-19.
State Chairman of APGA, Norbert Obi, in a statement, called on citizens to comply strictly with the stay at home order by the government in order to curtail the spread of the virus.
He described the measures as proactive and responsive, pointing out that the Isolation Centres established at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi; Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Awka; Onitsha General Hospital; NYSC orientation camp, Umuawulu-Mbaukwu and other towns are clear evidences of the government’s readiness to tackle contingencies that might arise from the scourge.
He also enjoined traders to resist the temptation to make undue profit and worsen the present socioeconomic hardship brought about by the COVID -19.
Obi thanked Governor Obiano, who is also the chairman of the Anambra state Action committee on Prevention of Coronavirus, for donating bags of rice to elderly persons in 179 communities in the state, adding that Onitsha and Obosi communities got double shares because of the high population density of the two towns.
Enugu community leaders reject isolation centre
Oji River Indigenous Peoples Association Worldwide, has rejected the siting of a coronavirus isolation centre in Achi, by the state government.
National President of the association, Dr. Obiechina Alex Chukwuemeka, and a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in a statement, said the establishment of the centre would expose the community and other surrounding villages to the deadly virus.
He said the people have resolved to mobilise youths of Achi and its environs to confront anybody that would come to convert the training school in the community to a COVID-19 isolation centre.
“This is totally an ill-conceived and a wickedly designed policy aimed at exponential growth and spread of COVID-19 in the immediate surroundings communities in Achi, Inyi, Oji-river Urban, Awla, Akpugoeze, Ugwuoba, Mmaku etc.
“We shall match any force with our bare hands, but with a resolve that will overwhelm the sponsors. First, the choice of the centre is totally both irrational and insensitive. This proposed isolation centre is a training school. Thus, it does not have any already installed medical equipment. It has no doctors, nurses or other sensitive health care accommodation.
Adhere to instructions on Covid 19 – Igwe Nwoye
The Traditional ruler of Amurri Ancient Kingdom in Nkanu West Local Government of Enugu State, Igwe Charles Egbo Nwoye, the Obioha II of Amurri, has called on his community to abide by all instructions and directives by the state government and the National Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC) to avert being infected by coronavirus.
The royal father made this call in his palace while addressing all ward leaders, town union officials led by its President Chief Okwudili Nwodo, elders and other stakeholders. Igwe Nwoye, in a statement his spokesman, Nze Sam Nwanze, urged town leaders to talk to their village people to wash their hands regularly, keep away from large gatherings and maintain social distance as directed by health officials. He advised against panic and prayed that God would protect his people and Nigeria form the virus.
He lauded Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for the release of N330 million to fight the scourge and other efforts to safeguard the people of Enugu State from the disease.
GIA urges Igbo to brace up
A conglomerate of Igbo association in the diaspora, Global Igbo Alliance, is calling on Ndi Igbo to brace up for the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world to avoid the loss of thousands of human lives.
A statement by its President, Christian Duru said: “We cannot afford to experience another large scale mortality in Igbo land after losing millions of lives during the Biafran war. Since the war ended, Ndi Igbo have continued to lose lives in the course of our quest for freedom and autonomy. This is yet another test of our ability as a people. We need to stand up and fight against this dangerous virus from overtaking Alaigbo.
“GIA recommends total lockdown in all the states in Alaigbo for at least two weeks. This is the method adopted by other countries of the world and a proven way to curtail transmission of the disease. Countries that did not take action timely enough, such as Italy and Spain, have lost thousands of lives and are paying a huge price for it.
“We are in the diaspora and can attest to what is going on overseas with the coronavirus pandemic – it is an unprecedented event that took the world unawares. Let us learn from those around us. Our people say that ‘an orphan child learns from the counsel of his friend’s living parents’. Both Alaigbo and Nigeria as a whole do not have what it takes to contain an Italy or Spain type of outbreak. If it occurs in Nigeria, it will be catastrophic, hence, the urgent call for Ndi Igbo and all Nigerians to brace up and protect themselves before it is too late.