By Rasheed Sobowale

The Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, as on Saturday approved the closure of all the state’s land borders with effect from 4am on Sunday, 29th March 2020 to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state.

This was contained in a press statement made available to the media by the state’s Commissioner for Information, John Okiyi Kalu.

According to the statement, “Security agencies, traditional rulers and community youths in the state are to ensure total compliance with this directive and take all necessary measures including total blocking of the borders till further notice.

“Particular effort should be geared towards stopping those that might attempt to sneak into the state either at night or at dawn till further notice.

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“Furthermore, traditional rulers and security agencies should ensure that those identified to have returned from Lagos, Abuja and overseas are confined to their homes in isolation for at least 14 days.”

The decision was reported to have followed the recommendation of the state’s inter-ministerial committee on COVID-19 based on situational reviews.

However, Abia State has not recorded any positive case of the coronavirus disease, although states like Enugu- 2; Edo- 2; Rivers-1; and Benue already reported confirmed cases.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) had reported that Nigeria has recorded 89 total cases of the virus, a rise from 81 reported late Friday.

Seven out of the new eight cases were confirmed in Lagos, the epicentre of the virus in Nigeria, and one in Benue (the first case in the state).

Vanguard News Nigeria.