COVID-19: Wike orders closure of airport, land and sea borders, bans entry and exit from Rivers
The Governor of Rivers State Nyesom Wike has ordered the closure of the Port Harcourt International Airport, as well as land and sea borders across the state as he bans entry and exit from the state.
The move is part of measures put in place by the River State Government to curb the spread of COVID-19 into the state. Rivers is one of the states in Nigeria with no confirmed case of the deadly virus as at Wednesday March 25, 2020.
In a Twitter statement on Wednesday, Wike revealed how security operatives at the Abuja airport prevented a female passenger who had tested positive for COVID-19 from boarding a flight enroute Port Harcourt.
“It is with gratitude to God that I announce to you that our State would have been infected with coronavirus yesterday, but for the vigilance of security agents who, acting on a tip- off prevented an infected person from boarding a flight from Abuja to Port Harcourt,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Based on this alarming Information, the State Security Council met yesterday and reviewed measures already put in place and decided that there was urgent need to adopt stringent measures to protect those living and doing business in the state from the virus.”
On the closure of the Port Harcourt International Airport, the governor said “while we may not have the right to stop flights from entering Port Harcourt, we cannot allow anybody coming from the airport to enter our State. We are confident that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other federal agencies will cooperate with us.”
Wike announced the following measures which he described as painful:
1. With effect from 6pm on Thursday March 26, 2020, the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa will not be open to air traffic.
2. All Land and Sea Borders will be closed.
3. Vehicular movements in an out of the state have been banned. In essence no vehicle will leave Rivers State for any other State and no vehicle will be allowed to enter the state.
4. Setting up of Surveillance Posts at land and sea borders, beginning from Tuesday, March 24, 2020.
5. All forms of open worship including crusades and vigils have been banned.
6. Public Burials and weddings have been prohibited, while public parks, night clubs and Cinemas were directed to close down.
7. Security Agencies have been empowered to strictly enforce these directives.
