COVID-19: El-Rufai Seals All Entry Points To Kaduna, Declares Curfew From 6pm
Governor Nasir El-Rufai has ordered the placement of concrete barrier blocks on entry points into Kaduna state to enforce the ban on interstate travel in the state.
El-Rufai also ordered the closure of all roads within the state from 6pm everyday.
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“All roads will be sealed and all lanes closed by 6pm everyday. Night travel – from 6pm to 6am is prohibited in Kaduna State due to the nationwide curfew imposed by FGN. All vehicles must remain overnight at the border till morning when we open the highway,” he said in a tweet on Friday.
The governor had visited some of the entry points into the state, where he personally supervised the sealing of the roads to curb the further spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) into the state.
The governor took the step after the Kaduna government found that majority of the COVID-19 cases in the state had recently travelled illegally.
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As per figures released on Thursday night by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Kaduna had recorded a total of 92 COVID-19 cases.
Governor El-Rufai, in a series of tweets on Friday, said his administration decided to barricade roads entering the state, “to enforce the prohibition of interstate travel which is spreading the disease across state lines and complicating efforts to defeat it.”
In an earlier statement, the governor said: “As at 7 May 2020, positive Covid-19 test results have been recorded from seven local government areas: Giwa, Igabi, Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Makarfi, Soba and Zaria. An overwhelming majority of Covid-19 cases in the state have travel history.
“The consequence of such illegal travel is the widening spread of the virus into the state, and not just into the cities. Infections have now been recorded in some mainly rural local governments on the borders of the state, thereby increasing the danger of community transmission.”
El-Rufai further appealed to citizens of the state to, “report persons engaged in interstate travel or who sneak into their communities” to assist the government tackle the disease efficiently.
