Kaduna State Government has warned that henceforth traditional rulers will be sanctioned for any violation of the quarantine order in their communities.
\nThe Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe who gave the warning in a state broadcast on Thursday, said that \u2018\u2019community structures, from the Ward Head, Village Head and District Head, will be held accountable for violations of the quarantine order by people within domains.\u2019\u2019
\nDr Balarabe also said that the administration is still collating reports from senior Government officials who monitored compliance of the directives that were given last Monday, specifying how residents should conduct themselves during the two-day window that was allowed for people to restock food items.
\n\u2018\u2019Right now, we are collating reports of compliance to my directive that only sellers of food and other essential items should open for business, and compliance to non-hike of prices of food items. Appropriate actions will be taken according to findings,\u2019\u2019 she added.
\nDr Balarabe threatened that \u2018\u2019if necessary, Government will invite the military to complement the efforts of the police in enforcing the Quarantine order across the state.\u2019\u2019
\nAccording to the Deputy Governor, \u2018\u2019from Thursday 9th April 2020, Government will go beyond advise, warnings and threats, to the vigorous enforcement of the order.\u2019\u2019
\nDr Balarabe who said that she personally saw violations of the directive on social distancing at the Kaduna – Abuja expressway on Wednesday, revealed that commercial vehicles were loaded to the brim, adding that \u2018\u2019 I had to order such erring drivers to drop off some passengers.”
\nThe Deputy Governor also lamented that \u2018\u2019safe corridor provided for travelers has been serially abused since the lockdown was imposed, on the pretext that these travelers were on transit, people from elsewhere have been coming into Kaduna in droves in violation of the Quarantine order. \u2018\u2019
\nDr Balarabe who said that she finds this abuse unacceptable, said that she has \u2018\u2019directed that all entry points into the State should be closed and only authorised vehicles should be given passage,\u2019\u2019 adding that \u2018\u2019persons without valid passes have been strongly advised to cancel travel plans to Kaduna State.”
\nAccording to her, \u2018all unauthorised vehicles will be turned back at our borders and those who insist in coming into Kaduna State will spend 14 days in a designated isolation facility.\u2019\u2019
\n\u2018\u2019As from Thursday April 9, security agencies have been stationed at the Kaduna-Abuja express way, Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road, Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road, Kachia road, Bwari-Jere-Kagarko road, Gumel-Kwoi-Keffi road, Jos-Manchok road and Zaria-Funtua road, including all other entry points into Kaduna State,\u2019\u2019 she added.
\nDr Balarabe said that \u2018\u2019in last few days, there have been suggestions from various quarters, pleading for a relaxation of the lockdown, especially to allow our Muslim and Christian faithful to observe Jumma\u2019at prayers and church services respectively.\u2019\u2019
\n\u2018\u2019According to these proponents, our restriction order is more stringent than other neighbouring states\u2019 and that relaxing the lockdown, they argued, is necessary because \u2019the worst is over\u2019, since we have kept Coronavirus at bay,\u2019\u2019 she said.
\nThe Deputy Governor who is a medical Doctor, clarified \u2018\u2019that there are rules that guide these lockdowns as provided by relevant authorities. Going back on the lockdown at this point will make us loose all the gains that have been recorded so far. \u2018\u2019
\nAccording to her, predictions from the Risk Assessment conducted by medical experts , \u2018\u2019show that if the lockdown is faithfully implemented and people observe preventive measures handed down by health care professionals, Kaduna State will have fewer new case of COVID-19.\u2019\u2019
\n\u2018\u2019However, if we waver, the State will be faced with the worst case scenario and we will have to deal with new cases exceeding 50,000. I am certain no one will want that to happen,\u2019\u2019 Dr Balarabe revealed.
\nThe Deputy Governor said that \u2018\u2019Commissioner of Health has informed the State Standing Committee on Covid 19, that any time we record a new case, it sets us back by 14 days!\u2019\u2019
\nDr Balarabe however said that Kaduna State Government will continue to review the situation and make adjustments as the situations dictate.
\nDeputy Governor Balarabe also said that in addition to the testing centre that the National Centre for Disease Control(NCDC) will set up, \u2018\u2019the Government has been in talks with Ahmadu Bello University , Zaria, for use its Laboratory at the African Centre for Excellence for Neglected Tropical Diseases. \u2018\u2019
\nBesides that, Government is also considering other alternatives, she added.
\nAccording to Dr Balarabe, three days ago, I also inspected the Germfree Containerised Modular BSL-3 laboratory at Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital, Tudun Wada Kaduna. The NCDC team is in the state and we will work with the team to ensure we get the center up and running within the next few days.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kaduna State Government has warned that henceforth traditional rulers will be sanctioned for any violation of the quarantine order in their communities. The Deputy Governor, Dr Hadiza Balarabe who gave the warning in a state broadcast on Thursday, said that \u2018\u2019community structures, from the Ward Head, Village Head and District Head, will be held accountable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":13131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[161,1340,1450],"class_list":["post-25832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-kaduna","tag-lockdown","tag-rulers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25832\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}