A total lockdown of Bonny Island might be announced this week by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, following the rising number of coronavirus cases on the Island.
Wike who had weeks ago said that the Island has become the epicentre of the virus in the state, gave the hint on Tuesday when he met with the king and traditional rulers of Bonny at the Government House, Port Harcourt.
Wike urged the monarchs to ensure their people understood the reality of COVID-19, adding that there was an urgent need for residents of the island to cooperate with the state government to ensure that all COVID-19 protocols were obeyed to contain the spread of the pandemic in the area.
He said: “Bonny is strategic to the national economy and we have to work together to ensure that the disease does not cripple the economy.
“We have to make our people to stop living in denial about the existence of COVID-19 because such an attitude will not allow them to take the necessary precautions.
“The results of samples collected from Bonny indicate that it could be an epicentre of the pandemic in the state if drastic action is not taken.
“It is not something our people should pretend that it does not exist. Something that has taken the world by storm and killing more than conventional warfare should be taken seriously.
“When this pandemic started in the State, I raised the alarm that 60 per cent of the cases were from rig workers and had to impose lockdown of Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas.
“So many were not happy. What will be my joy to close down businesses if not to save life. I have the responsibility to make sure that the people that have given me their mandate are alive. Will I be governor of the dead? Some of us do not appreciate that we have to make sacrifices if that is going to save our people”.
Wike said the State Security Council would meet on June 17, to review the situation in Bonny and consider a possible lockdown.
He said the rising cases of the pandemic in the state should give every right-thinking person serious concern.
He announced that the state would soon publish guidelines for the conduct of marriages during the period.
