BY SAM DUVWODE
The Delta State Government, on Wednesday, reiterated that even in the face of the subsisting partial easing of the lockdown and the stay- at- home order, the state’s borders remained closed to all road users, except those on essential services.
The Deputy Governor of Delta State, Barr. Kingsley Otuaro, who briefed journalists in Patani, a border town between Delta and Bayelsa states and at Ugbenu in Ethiope West local government area, said the gains derived from the battle against COVID-19 pandemic could not be frittered away by allowing any arbitrary movement of people in and out of the state.
Barr. Otuaro said, “We are here to assess the level of compliance of the lockdown order made by the Delta State Governor, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa. We want to see for ourselves the level to which commuters and travellers to and from the South Eastern Bayelsa, Rivers and other states are complying with the lockdown order of our land borders”
“I want to use this medium to reiterate that the broadcast of His Excellency, the Governor of Delta State, yesterday, primarily conveyed an easing of the lockdown and that, indeed, does not affect the hitherto lockdown of the inter-state borders.”
“Inter-state borders hitherto on lock¬down remain locked down for another two weeks. We need to make this clarification so that travellers from the Eastern states do not misconstrue the state-wide broadcast made by His Excellency.
“The easing of the lockdown does not in any way apply to our borders and as such, travellers should be very much aware of that, and we expect that they comply, accordingly. This is important because we cannot afford to toy with the gains we have made in ordering for a lockdown”, he added.
The Deputy Governor, who was also at Ugbenu and Ologbo border towns of Delta and Edo states, maintained further that any commuter, who breached the directive would be sent back to wherever they were coming from except only those on essential services, who would be well at the border points before they could be allowed into the state.
He commended the Chairman of Patani Local Government Area, Perez Omoun, and his Ethiope West counterpart, Solomon Galley, members of borders enforcement committees, including the security agencies, for doing good jobs in protecting the border points since the lockdown started.