COVID-19: Gov Wike Personally Inspects Lockdown In Rivers, Arrests Over 200 Defaulters [Photos/Video]

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike personally took over command on the streets of Port Harcourt enforcing the extreme lockdown on Thursday, and sending the defaulters to quarantine, seen as prison.

At the Elekahia Isolation Centre, over 200 persons were arrested and over 20 vehicles impounded by different teams enforcing the lockdown.

Governor Wike, who vowed that the defaulters would face the full weight of the law, however allowed a pregnant woman who violated the lockdown order, on compassionate grounds.

During an interview after personally monitoring the lockdown on Thursday, May 7, 2020, Governor Wike rated the compliance level to be up to 95 percent, and commended Rivers people for complying with his orders to check the spread of coronavirus.

The governor accused the DCP (Operations) of moves to sabotage the lockdown by issuing illegal letters to companies.

“It is unfortunate to see the level of sabotage that we get from the police, particularly, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations).

“He would sign approvals for companies because he wants to collect money. I am the Governor of this state and there cannot be two governors,” he said.

He declared as illegal any approvals issued by the police or any other authorities outside the office of the Rivers State Governor.

“The Deputy Commissioner of Police has no powers to issue approvals when the State Government has locked down the state.

“After the State Security Council met and agreed on the lockdown, the Deputy Commissioner of Police went ahead to issue illegal letters to companies to operate. I have never seen that in my life.”

The governor said that all those who were arrested violating the lockdown would be prosecuted by the State Government.

A housewife arrested sent text to her family saying she was standing in front of their yard.

However, the governor said; “all these violators must be prosecuted at the mobile court set for this purpose. What we are doing is not for any particular individual, it is for the interest of the state.”

Governor Wike assured Rivers people that the lockdown will be lifted as soon as the objective is achieved.

“Our people are suffering, I agree, but this is something we must do. When we examine the level of compliance and it is reasonable, of course, we will unlock the two Local Government Areas.

“It is not in our own interest that people shouldn’t come out or go to the markets. But we are talking about lives and how to protect our people. Look at what is happening in other parts of the country.”

He added: “I have called for an emergency security Council meeting by 3pm today. This is a complete sabotage by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Rivers State Police Command. We will deal with that accordingly. I however, thank the Army, the Navy and others on what they are doing to enforce the lockdown.”

KanyiDaily recalls that Governor Wike had also vowed to prosecute ExxonMobil for flouting the coronavirus lockdown order, by bringing in 22 persons into the state without authorisation.

The governor said he cannot leave corporate bodies who violated the state’s lockdown order to go free, whereas, petty traders like Akara and Groundnut sellers are charged to court for same violation.