Uzodimma threatens lockdown in Imo over rising COVID-19 cases

Hope Uzodimma, governor of Imo, says he will impose a total lockdown in the state if residents continue to violate the COVID-19 safety protocol. 

In a statement on Friday, the governor said he will do everything within his power to ensure that residents are alive and healthy, adding that it is a patriotic responsibility that he is determined to enforce.

He said the COVID-19 committee and the ministry of health have been mandated to arrest and prosecute anyone not wearing a face mask in public, adding that mobile courts have been set up across the state to try offenders.

“It is highly regrettable that in spite of my repeated appeals that we protect ourselves from this lethal pandemic by taking simple safety measures, a vast majority of our people have stubbornly refused to listen,” he said.

“The reality on ground points clearly to the fact that no matter how much we want to deceive ourselves, COVID-19 is not only real but deadly. The second wave of this virus which is now ravaging the world, our country inclusive, is even more deadly. Our people are dying almost every day from the lethal sting of this cruel virus. Yet many of us choose to live in the self delusionary fantasy that coronavirus does not exist.

“Four mobile courts have been put in place, two in the state capital and one each in Orlu and Okigwe zones, to try offenders. The penalty for not wearing face masks is a maximum jail term of six months or N20,000 in lieu.

“I must make it absolutely clear that if our people choose instead to continue to deceive themselves that coronavirus does not exist and continue to go about without face masks and without observing other safety protocols, I will be forced to review the situation in the coming weeks.

“If it is clear from the realities on ground that extra, more stringent measures must be taken to keep our people safe, I will have no choice but to authorise a second lockdown of the state.

“The choice is entirely ours to make: to strictly adhere to the simple safety protocols now or to face a complete lockdown in a few weeks.”

According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), as of January 22, Imo has confirmed 917 coronavirus infections, out of which 776 recoveries and 17 deaths have been recorded.