Ekiti to prosecute soldier’s wife for importing COVID-19

Ekiti State Government has said it will prosecute the soldier’s wife who came into the state from Katsina State with COVID-19 despite the lockdown order and prohibition of inter-state movement.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Mojisola Yaya-Kolade, said on Wednesday that the woman who came to visit her husband had committed an offence and would face prosecution.

Yaya-Kolade said, “Though it was the husband who alerted us, it is  an offence against the state and the Ministry of Justice will take appropriate actions against her at the right time.”

She said the woman’s husband who was her only main contact had been quarantined for 14 days in line with the World Health Organisation guidelines.

The state government also said it had arrested 10 people and had kept them in quarantine following measures to prevent coronavirus spread in the state.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Health, Dr Jimlas  Ogunsakin, said seven of them returned to the state from Kano State. He said three others who are women forcibly entered the state.

Ogunsakin, who made the revelation in Ado Ekiti during an update on COVID-19 in Ekiti on Wednesday, said the women would be prosecuted.

He said,  “We got several tip-offs from people and we acted on them. The Kano returnees came to Adeparusi Estate in Adebayo and some came to Atinkankan area. We got the information from the public and we got them arrested and they were quarantined immediately.”

Meanwhile, Governor Kayode Fayemi on Wednesday sought the support of road transport unions in the state towards enforcing the inter-state travel ban.

Fayemi, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Biodun Omoleye, during a meeting between the  COVID-19 task force and transport unions in the state, said the battle against the pandemic should be a collective thing.

The governor said the aim of the meeting was to prevent further  COVID-19 cases in the state.

His deputy, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, said the state government had directed security agencies manning borders and checkpoints to henceforth carry out rigorous checks on vehicles conveying essential commodities across the state, according to a statement by his Special Assistant (Media), Odunayo Ogunmola.

He said, “This government will not fold its arms and allow some individuals to sabotage its efforts in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and safeguarding the health of the people.

“We hereby direct  the  security agencies at the borders and checkpoints to henceforth scrutinise the interiors of all vehicles coming into or passing through the state in search of the people who might be hiding inside.”