Chairman, Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State, Comrade Peter Andy Omeje (right); receiving situation reports on inter-state movement restriction from the DPO of Igbo-Eze South Police Division (middle); while the Secretary of the local government, Vitus Nnamani (left), listens.

By Ikechukwu Odu

Following the guided ease of lockdown in Enugu State, the chairman of Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area, Comrade Peter Andy Omeje, has charged the residents to always wear their face masks.

Omeje explained that those who will be caught without their masks will be turned back to their homes by the taskforce team commissioned for the purpose.

He made the disclosure yesterday at Ibagwa, the council headquarters during the sharing of 15,750 locally-made face masks given to the local government by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the state to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

While addressing the audience compromising of the religious leaders, representatives of security agencies, traditional rulers and President Generals in the council, he charged them to continue the enlightenment at their quaters, adding that the fight against the pandemic should be everybody’s business.

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According to him “If you must open your shop or come into the markets within our council area to trade, or buy something, you must wear your face mask, otherwise, our taskforce will turn you back. If you are a commercial cyclist or tricyclist, you must put on your face mask if you want to operate in our vicinity. You will not be permitted in churches if you are not wearing yours.

“We will not charge money for violation because we know that this is a challenging period, but our taskforce team will force you home if you are caught without the mask,” he said.

He equally charged leaders of the different markets in the council to ensure social distancing among the traders, stressing that Enugu State is one of the safest in Nigeria as a result of the pro-activeness of the state government on the fight against the pandemic.

Speaking on the enforcement on the restriction on inter-state movements, he said “I have commissioned the security agencies and vigilante groups to man our borders with Kogi State at Itchi Agu, Unadu and Ugwu Okwua. At the beginning, there was no serious compliance because those who were posted there compromised. It was at that point that we recruited reliable youths living close to the borders to join forces with the security agencies and vigilante groups to ensure total compliance; and they have been doing excellent jobs.

“Sometimes, I sleep on those borders to ensure that the directives are followed. There have been lots of improvement. We are also raising more youths who are interested in doing this job to complement our efforts.

“We have caught so many vehicles coming from the north at those borders and we have always turned them back despite that most of the occupants are Igbos living in the north; we are not emotional in this fight against coronavirus,” he said.

While speaking on the occasion, the chairman of Igbo-Eze South Traditional Rulers Council, HRH, Ikechukwu Oke, said he would instruct the traditional rulers in the council to take the message to homes for holistic compliance.

He assured that they would continue to complement the efforts of the state and local governments in ensuring that the pandemic is wiped out from the state.

Vanguard