The Cross River State Governor, Ben Ayade, has ordered new restrictions on residents of the state, just as its neighbouring state, Akwa Ibom, recorded its first five cases of coronavirus disease.

According to a statement signed by Ayade’s media aide, Christian Ita, task force would not allow any resident of Cross River State to move around without a face mask, with effect from Friday, April 3rd, 2020.

The statement read in part,

No citizen or resident of the state will be allowed to leave home without a face mask from Friday 3rd, April 2020.

Failure to adhere to this directive will lead to the arrest and quarantine of the offenders for 14 days.

The Cross River State garment factory has been mandated to produce face masks to be freely distributed to citizens and residents alike to meet with the demand.

Those who for one reason or the other are unable to get masks from government before the new restrictions kick in, are advised to purchase theirs from shops selling the item.

Ayade also emphasized that all public gatherings remain banned and all markets shotdown, with the exception of food markets.

All exit and entry points into the state are now completely shut. No human or vehicular movement will be allowed into the state under any disguise,

the statement concluded.

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.