Kaduna imposes curfew to curb spread of coronavirus

The Kaduna state government has imposed a curfew across the state to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Hadiza Balarabe, deputy governor of the state, announced this on Thursday.

She said the decision is in line with the 1999 constitution, the quarantine act of 1926 and the Kaduna state public health law.

Balarabe said the development was needed as a review by the state standing committee on Covid-19 prevention, adding that some residents of the state have ignored measures put in place by the government.

She said violators of the curfew will be arrested, adding that security agencies have been directed to enforce the restriction.

The deputy governor said only medical personnel, security operatives, and fire service workers are exempted from the curfew.

“The committee also considered reports of unsatisfactory compliance levels with the preventive measures that have been outlined by the government in repeated announcements, and with increasing severity, over the past seven days,” she said.

“There were also reports of certain persons not obeying the ban announced on motorcycle taxis and ‘Keke-Napep’ tricycles.

“From midnight of Thursday, 26th March 2020, all residents of Kaduna State must stay at home. No offices, businesses of any sort or places of worship are allowed to open.

“The only category of persons exempted are workers in essential services such as health workers, the fire service and security personnel.

“Churches and mosques will be shut, there will no congregational prayers or services either within these places of worship or outdoors.

“Wedding events and all social gatherings are strictly prohibited while these emergency measures remain in place,’’ the Deputy Governor further warned.

“Any place of worship, event centre or place that hosts social gatherings will be in violation of its term of grant and therefore risks forfeiting its title and having the site of the offense removed.

“We recognise that Kaduna State is a transport hub. Therefore, transit through Kaduna will be allowed, provided that such vehicles ply only the Western bye-pass.”

The deputy governor said the government will distribute food to vulnerable persons during the lockdown.

She said preventing the spread of the disease in the state is better than managing it after it enters.

“As indicated in previous statements, the government is procuring food and other supplies, funded from its contingency budget, to mitigate the challenges of a lockdown for such persons,” she said.

“These items will be distributed in community clusters across urban local government areas in the state. This will be a grassroots exercise, as it is people drawn from the the target community that will constitute the committee to manage the distribution.”

Nigeria has recorded 51 coronavirus cases spread across eight states and the federal capital territory (FCT).

While Lagos has 32, the highest number, FCT follows with 10 and Ogun, three. Ekiti, Oyo, Edo, Bauchi, Osun, and Rivers have one case each.

Two persons have recovered from the disease while one has died.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State government had announced that six patients being treated for coronavirus have recovered and will soon be discharged.