Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has condemned illegal interstate travel, as it is fueling the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the state.

El-Rufai, who made the speech via his Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, in a statement on Friday, said that most of the coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in Kaduna State had travel history.

El-Rufai said the development had increased the danger of community transmission

now being recorded in some mainly rural local governments as the borders of the state.

The statement said

The Standing Committee, on COVID-19 appeals for the vigilance and active involvement of all citizens in the effort to avert this peril.

El-Rufai said the committee

has confirmed that seven new cases were recorded in the state on May 7.

He added,

Kaduna State now has 82 active cases, having discharged 10 patients and recorded one fatality.

The latest cases include four persons with travel history outside the state, a senior citizen who received many visitors at home, and two persons in police barracks who are contacts of one of the policemen who tested positive.

He said,

Positive COVID -19 test results have been recorded from seven local government areas – Giwa, Igabi, Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Makarfi, Soba and Zaria. Many citizens of Kaduna State have endured inconveniences and consistently complied with the restrictions on movement, including the prohibition of non-essential interstate movement.

These sacrifices are being jeopardised by the actions of persons who violate the quarantine orders and the misconduct of some law enforcement officers that have facilitated and indulged this grossly irresponsible pattern of interstate travel.

The state government continues to engage the leadership of the concerned agencies on these dangerous lapses, given its consistent support for the security agencies in the state.

The governor said the state’s health system could be overwhelmed if community transmission occurred.

The statement also noted that the state government was compelled to block many of the entry points and deployed senior officials to personally man the borders because of the illegal happenings at the borders.

He said,

The Standing Committee appeals to the vast majority of law-abiding citizens to continue to expose and report persons engaged in interstate travel or who sneak into their communities.

All citizens should please consistently exercise the personal responsibility and compliance with health protocols that have been outlined to help beat COVID-19.

Kwara arrests 31 travellers
Meanwhile, naval officials on Friday intercepted three commercial buses loaded with 31 passengers at Erinle/Osun State boundary.

According to the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, who also doubles as spokesman for the COVID-19 Technical Committee, the driver of the vehicles had contravened the state’s lockdown order by conveying passengers from Osun to Kwara.

The media aide, who said the state recorded eight new cases of coronavirus on Thursday and Friday from interstate travellers, said the security officers at the borders would be tough on travellers crossing into the state.

Ajakaye said,

We are sad to note that these five new cases came from the 28 travellers from Sokoto and Kebbi intercepted by the DSS at Oko Olowo area (Ilorin) and were instantly quarantined. Going forward, anyone who crosses the border to Kwara State in defiance of the interstate lockdown directive would be turned back to wherever they were coming from, no matter at what time of the day.

Oyo arrests 50 northerners
No fewer than 50 travellers from Kaduna and Kebbi states were allegedly intercepted by the State task force and security officers Ogbomoso on Friday.

The travellers, who defied the interstate border closure, were said to have been arrested at different locations in the town.

It was learnt that some of them were apprehended while trying to disembark from a truck near the Federal Government College, Ogbomoso.

The Chairman, Ogbomoso North Local Government Area, Alhaji Ibrahim Ajagbe, who confirmed the incident, said they had been turned back from the state.

According to him, the Divisional Police Officer, Ogbomoso, representatives of Ogbomoso Parapo Vigilante Group and officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps effected their return.

All efforts made by one of correspondents to reach spokesman for the police in the state, Olugbenga Fadeyi, for comments were unsuccessful.

Calls made to him were not answered while the text message sent to him had yet to be replied to as of the time of filing this report.

Rivers court convicts 170 violators

Also, the Rivers State Government has secured the conviction of 170 persons who violated the lockdown of Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local government areas of the state.

The Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General, Zacchaeus Adangor, said this in a statement on Friday.

He said the convictions were secured on Thursday through the Mobile Court in Port Harcourt.

The statement indicated that those convicted did not obey the lockdown aimed at checking the spread of COVID-19.

Rivers arrests 14 smuggled into trucks conveying cattle
Meanwhile, Wike has arrested the 14 persons smuggled into two trucks conveying cattle from Adamawa State to Port Harcourt.

The governor said the trucks were intercepted following a tip-off. He said they were arrested at Rumuigbo in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state.

The governor ordered the immediate prosecution of the 14 persons by the Mobile Court.

Wike said the arrest had vindicated him, even as he said that security agencies had failed the people of the state, accusing them of collecting money and allowing defaulters to slip through the border.

Interstate travellers use bush paths, irregular routes – Police
Meanwhile, the police said violators of the interstate travel ban were taking irregular routes, including bush paths and other difficult and unknown terrains to beat security checks.

The force, however, said it had decided to use police on horseback to patrol in some parts of the country to prevent the continued flouting of the directive aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

Force spokesman, DCP Frank Mba, disclosed this to one of our correspondents on Thursday in response to questions on the failure of the security agencies to curb the movement of Almajirai and other commuters across the country despite the ban on interstate travel.

Governors had unanimously agreed to the implementation of an interstate lockdown for two weeks to mitigate the spread of the virus from state to state. The directive exempted movement of workers on essential services.

But many travellers and street children have been intercepted hiding in trucks conveying foodstuffs and animals travelling to other states.

On Thursday, the Cross River State Government said it had ordered five truckloads of Almajirai, including other passengers from the northern part of the country back to their destination after they were intercepted at the state boundary.

A border patrol team, comprising the Peace Corps, vigilantes, Border COVID-19 Task Force, and youth groups reportedly intercepted the trucks on Wednesday night at the Garkem border town in Bekwara LGA of the state near Benue State.

Also on Tuesday night, the enforcement team of the Federal Capital Territory intercepted 43 travellers. They were escorted out of the territory by security officers.

But Mba claimed that the violators were avoiding the major roads, hence the inability of the police to stop or arrest them.

He stated,

The major challenge is the fact that there are so many uncharted routes, irregular routes, bush paths, that are being used by those violating the interstate travel ban.

In some parts of the country, we are deploying horses because they have the capacity to move through these irregular routes. We are also strengthening our monitoring, that’s why you see that even if they use irregular routes, as soon as they step into the road, we arrest them.

The deputy commissioner of police said many violators had been arrested across the country, particularly in the south, adding that some violators had been brought to book.

He said the force was also collaborating with the various transport unions to prevail on their members to obey the travel ban.

Mba said police officers needed Personal Protective Equipment being on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19, stressing that they required protection like other essential workers.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.