By Kelechi Esogwa-Amadi
As the deadly corona virus continues to devastate the world and send jitters down the spines of humans, the Nigeria Customs Area 1 Command, Port Harcourt, in line with the directives of medical experts, the World Health Organization, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Rivers State Government, have adopted proactive measures to combat the disease.
According to the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Oscar, the Area 1 Command Dstarted by organizing an awareness parade by its officers, during which they were sensitized by their medical officers and authorities on how to avoid contacting and spreading the deadly virus.
He said the Command, under the new Comptroller, Awwal B. Mohammed, then followed this up by distributing prevention kits that include hand gloves, nose masks and sanitizers to its officers, both those in the offices and those on the frontline.
“We also positioned water basins and soap at our gate for people to wash their hands. As a matter of fact, before anybody is allowed to enter our compound, he must wash his hands with the water and soap. We provided test facilities to our officers on the frontline,” he said.
On how the Command ascertains that ships coming into the Ports are not contacted, he said before ships leave from their locations, they are certified by the international body responsible for that.
The Area 1 Customs PRO further explained that the Command is collaborating with the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Port Harcourt, to ensure compliance with the preventive measures.
According to him, they have suspended all courtesy visits to the NPA and Area 1 Customs for now as a way of limiting the movement of persons around the Ports.
