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▪︎Gov. Obiano acknowledges 8 active COVID-19
A new Covid -19 bill signed into law by Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra may not check the spread of the disease in the state if effective enforcement measures are not put in place signaturetv.org investigation reveals.
The law among others made not wearing a face mask a punishable offence with fine and community service.
“The offence attracts a fine of N10, 000 or some hours of community service, I will like to re-emphasise that my administration is determined to enforce this law,” Obiano said Tuesday in a special broadcast in Awka.
However the porous boundaries of the state is making a nonsense of any enforcement effort as illegal inter state movements has become a flourishing business in the state.
Our correspondent in Awka reports that at the Enugu/Anambra boundary for a fee ranging from N200 to N10,000 individuals and vehicles freely go in or out of the state.
At Amansea/Ugwuoba axis a relay race – like operation was witnessed as passengers coming from Enugu were discharged at the police checkpoint where they crossed by foot, sorted out the security personnel and boarded waiting vehicles to continue their journey into Anambra State unperturbed.
” I fit carry plenty people pass police checkpoint here, the only thing be say make dem hold their money”
Okechukwu a former bus conductor who has found a new job “ferrying” people and goods across the Ugwuoba/Amansea boundary told our correspondent in Pidgin English.
A top Government official in Enugu State who is among the boundary monitoring team deployed by the Enugu State Governor who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity said one of their greatest challenges was stopping the illegal influx of people and goods across the boundary with Anambra State.
“It has been a running battle with the security operatives here. Even corpses are carried across this boundary and all they do is collect money. They have illegal routes everywhere and they are hand gloves with those charged to police the entry points.
Signaturetv.org also found out that the situation is the same at the Delta/Anambra State boundary.
While acknowledging that Anambra State currently has eight active COVID-19 cases being treated at Protective Care Centres in the state
with 71 persons on home isolation and quarantine Governor Obiano said the state was making efforts to enhance the testing capacity of the state for coronavirus.
“We are ramping up our testing capacity to ensure that we slow down the spread of this pandemic in our dear state.
“The COVID-19 Committees that we have set up in Wards and Local Government Areas across Anambra are helping us in driving the campaign to every nook and cranny of the state.
“I will like to assure you that we have made adequate arrangements to handle the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obiano urged traders and religious leaders not to relax in ensuring that their members continued to adhere to the COVID-19 safety protocols while noting that it had been observed that most of them had jettisoned the safety measures.
He urged healthcare institutions to set up holding centres to keep patients who exhibited symptoms of the virus to check the possibility of spreading it in Anambra”
However Emeka Chikelu, a medical doctor who runs a private clinic in Awka applauded the extra measures being put in place by the state government, but still faults the enforcement “all these efforts are not yielding the desired result because enforcement is weak. Look at the law on face masks that came into force about a week ago, not one person has been arrested for violation but how many people are wearing it? For this to work more needs to be done.
♧This is a continuing investigation by signaturetv.org, supported by the MacArthur Foundation
