We’ll ensure full compliance with COVID-19 rules – Obaseki

Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, on Monday in Benin, said the state government would ensure that residents fully complied with the COVID-19 safety protocols.

Obaseki stated this shortly after a closed door meeting with all security chiefs in the state.

“We deliberated on the security situation in the state, you can see that the security council is being renewed and refreshed with new redeployments.

“We have a new Police Commissioner, Mr Ogbadu Aliyu, new Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) and we are expecting a new Brigade Commander to be deployed to the state.

“This afternoon, we deliberated extensively on the enforcement of COVID-19 rules and regulations in Edo. You will all recall that the residents have been complaining about the enforcement.

“People don’t wear their face masks in public places as they should, the discussion this afternoon was centered on how we can enforce the compliance so that we can slow down the spread of the virus,” said Obaseki.

According to him, different teams will enforce full compliance with the COVID-19 protocols across the state, and that new curfew time is from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. in the morning.

“Night clubs, hangouts that open do so at their risk. So, it’s going to be full enforcement to ensure full compliance with the rules, only yesterday, 84 new cases were reported and it’s becoming alarming and worrisome.

“We also discussed issues concerning the rearrest of convicts from the jails that were broken, we discussed issues relating to crime statistics in the state for the month where we have highest report coming from homicide followed by kidnapping and armed robbery.

“With the new officers we have, they are putting in place plans to ensure that crime statistics is followed through, we are going to be more proactive this time around in tackling crime in Edo,” the governor said.

In his response, the newly deployed CP, Aliyu, said the command had rearrested two out of eight suspected criminals that escaped from jail in the state headquarters.

“We are going to arrest the remaining six, we have their data, we arrested them and brought them in, so definitely they can’t go beyond our reach,” he said.