Governor of Cross River, Governor Ben Ayade has imposed new restrictions as the state prepares to battle the spread of the coronavirus in the state. The Governor in a statement released on Wednesday April 1st 2020, warned that no citizen or resident of the state would be allowed to leave home without a face mask.
Governor Ben Ayade who only yesterday set up a taskforce that will safeguard the state against the coronavirus, said that: “fllowing the proliferation of new cases of coronavirus in neighbouring states, I have this evening imposed new restrictions on residents of the state as follows:
1. No citizen or resident of the state will be allowed to leave home without a face mask from Friday 3rd, April 2020.
2. Failure to adhere to this directive will lead to the arrest and quarantine of the offenders for 14 days.
3. The Cross River State garment factory has been mandated to produce face mask to be distributed free to citizens and residents alike to meet with the demand.
4. Those who for one reason or the other are unable to get masks from government before the new restrictions kick in, are advised to purchase theirs from shops selling the item.
5. All public gatherings remain banned, markets should remain closed except where foodstuff is sold.
6. All exit and entry points into the state are now completely shut. No human or vehicular movement will be allowed into the state under any disguise.
Governor Ben Ayade explaining the move to set up a taskforce, said: “Cross River State being an international border state, and with the incident in Cameroon, I call on President Muhammadu Buhari, and the Minister of Health to treat Cross River in a very peculiar way, because we need the obvious and express attention of the federal government.
With a strong desire to ensure Cross River remains free of the virus, I have approved the sum of N500m and also released 20 Vehicles to the task force to support their activities. It is our hope, that Cross River will continue to record zero incidence of this pandemic and we can only achieve this if we work together as a team,” he said.
Stating further, the Governor said:
“The core mandate of this taskforce is to ensure the full implementation of the lockdown order, ensure that food and necessary supplies are made available to our people during this period and ensure prompt response to any case if any.
Furthermore, I mandate all my Commissioners to ensure that food supply from the Cross River food bank gets to each of their LGA’s. I am without doubt that if we work together as a team we will defeat this pandemic in no time.
Please stay home, and stay safe,” he added.