Buhari’s COVID-19 jail threat: States list enforcement obstacles as Nigerians shun compliance
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File copy: State governors, President Muhammadu Buhari at the inauguration of NEC at the Presidential Villa in June.
Published 9 February 2021
State governments on Monday explained obstacles to the enforcement of COVID-19 Health Protection Regulation 2021, which was signed by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on January 27.
Our correspondents, who monitored major cities across the country on Monday, observed that many residents were not complying with COVID-19 protocols such as wearing of face masks and social distancing.
Officials of state governments, including Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Enugu and Niger, who spoke to
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State governments on Thursday differed on ranching for herdsmen as a solution to killings and kidnappings by herders.
Officials of Oyo, Cross River, Kogi, Enugu, Ondo and Ekiti state governments in separate interviews said their states had no plans to establish ranches for herdsmen.
But their counterparts in Zamfara and Gombe states said they had begun plans to set up ranches for herdsmen.
While Gombe State’s Director General, Press Affairs Government House, Ismaila Misilli, said the state had allocated 130 hectares of land for the project, Zamfara State Director General Media, Publicity and Enlightenment, Alhaji Yusuf Idris, said the state Ruga settlements would soon be completed.
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Raphael Ede, Enugu
There was disquiet on Monday at the sitting of the Enugu EndSARS Panel on Police brutality and extrajudicial killing as the members protested the non-payment of allowances by the state government.
The PUNCH gathered that each member of the panel sitting at the Enugu High Court Complex were to be paid N500,000 monthly as allowance. They were paid for the month of November after their inauguration.
A source in the panel disclosed to our correspondent on Monday that after the initial payment, the state government did not pay the panel for the month of December and January.
The Enugu State Government, on Monday, said several residents were yet to come to terms with the reality of the coronavirus pandemic, making rapid testing difficult.
This was disclosed by the commissioner for health in the State, Dr. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Obi during a joint media briefing with his information counterpart, Hon. Chidi Aroh.
Obi said Enugu now has a total of 1738 cases of COVID-19, adding that out of that number, “there are 296 active cases, 1421 discharged, and 21 deaths.”
On efforts to ramp up testing, the commissioner said though sample collection centres were opened in each of the 17 Local Government Areas, “response is not encouraging. Our people are not coming out for testing.”
The Chief Press Secretary to the Benue State Governor, Mr Terver Akase has assured people of the state that his principal’s administration will not relent in its commitment to curbing the trafficking of children to other states to perform odd jobs.
Akase made the assertion while speaking on TVC live programme on Monday.
He described child trafficking as modern-day slavery.
Reacting to the recent repatriation of 19 boys who were trafficked to Lagos, Mr Akase said Governor Samuel Ortom is concerned about the welfare of every Benue person within and outside the state, assuring that the present administration would continue to collaborate with all stakeholders in matters of security.