By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
The proposed plan by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to lock down the entire Bonny Island due to the outbreak of the deadly Corona Virus pandemic is receiving knocks from the residents of the area.
A cross-section of the residents, who spoke to TPCN on Thursday (yesterday) said they did not like the idea of the lockdown being proposed by Governor Wike and some influential persons in the area.
According to them, the lockdown will not only subject them to suffering but will expose their people to the danger of increased rate of infections as everybody, both the infected and uninfected, will be forced to flock together indoors.
They further argued that any lockdown without a plan of mass street testing will not augur well for the people of the area.
Sunday Gogo, a trader from the area, said: “We are hearing that Governor Wike is planning to lock down this Bonny Island because of Coronavirus. Please we don’t need that lockdown because it will cause hunger and more death. Like me, I am a trader, if I don’t sell, I won’t eat. Please, instead of lockdown, let them provide face mask and sanitizer for everybody here.”
For Tobin Brown, mass testing and an isolation centre in Bonny will help more than lockdown. “Governor Wike should build an isolation centre for us in Bonny here so that it will be easy to treat those infected with Covid19. Then they should come and conduct mass testing in all the streets in this Island. That will help us rather than a lockdown,” he said.
As Bonny continues to be on edge following the Covid19 outbreak, it is not yet clear what line of action the Rivers State Government will take to curb the menace and save the lives of residents of the gas-rich island.
However, TPCN will keep tabs with the development.
