By Balogun Damilola
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and his Ekiti State counterpart, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, yesterday, vowed to prosecute any individual or organization found disobeying the social distancing order and face mask use to contain the spread of COVID-19 in their states.
Governor Akeredolu, who spoke while flagging off distribution of 500,000 nose masks produced by the state government in Akure, said: “Anybody arrested for not wearing nose mask would be placed on 14 days isolation at the person’s own cost.
“The production of the nose masks and subsequent distribution was part of the numerous efforts to combat the spread of COVID-19.”
While warning against not wearing nose masks in public places, the governor said: “The best protection against contracting COVID-19 was the wearing of nose masks.”
Similarly, Governor Fayemi, in a statement in Ado Ekiti by the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Muyiwa Olumilua, said those who had been distributing food items against the ethics of social distancing directive in recent time were not agents of the government as being suggested in some quarters.
The statement reads: “The Ekiti State Taskforce on COVID-19 wishes to inform the general public that the distribution of palliatives on Wednesday, May 6 around Dallimore area in Ado Ekiti which resulted in a large crowd gathering, was not at the instance of the State Government.
“The programme was discontinued by the task force when the report of an uncontrollable crowd at the venue of the event reached the State Government.
“While the task force appreciates and welcomes such support from well-meaning Ekiti citizens and organisations. We, however, reiterate that Governor Fayemi’s directive on large gatherings and physical distancing must be strictly adhered to, and violators will not be spared under the law.”
Also, the Ogun State Police Command expressed displeasure over the flagrant disobedience by residents of the state on the government directive on the use of face mask and social distancing.
In a statement by the Command’s spokesman, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi said: “The Ogun State police command has observed with dismay the flagrant disobedience to the government directives which made it compulsory for everybody to always put on a face mask when moving around within the State to mitigate the spread of the deadly Coronavirus.
”The Command also observed that commercial vehicles and motorcycles are still in the habit of overloading their vehicles with passengers, thereby, disobeying the directive on social/physical distancing which is capable of jeopardizing the efforts of the government in the war against COVID 19 pandemic.”