kaduna—The Task Force on COVID-19 in Kaduna State has expressed concern that the risk assessment of the pandemic indicated there could be as high as 57,000 new cases in the state, if there was no effective enforcement and implementation of the lockdown order.

This concern follows the sixth confirmed COVID-19 case involving a male patient who returned from Lagos State to Kaduna in a commercial vehicle after he tested positive for the  virus.

The state government has, therefore, embarked on massive enforcement of the lockdown, especially to stop inter-state travels till further notice, as part of measures to avoid community transmission of the disease.

Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, who is leading the operation, noted in an interview that it was important for people to observe the lockdown for as long as it was in effect for their own safety.

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With the pandemic gradually spreading to neighboring states, coupled with the sixth imported case from far away Lagos into Kaduna, the state government expressed sadness that the safe corridor provided for travelers had been serially abused since the lockdown was imposed, as people from elsewhere had been coming into Kaduna in droves in violation of the quarantine order.

Security agencies have, therefore, been issued an executive order to turn back any unauthorised vehicles into the state.

Vehicles without approvals have been intercepted along Kachia road and Sabon Tasha area, with some commercial drivers abandoning their buses and fleeing in a bid to escape arrest.

Vanguard