Awka – Anambra state government through the state Covid-19 Protocols Taskforce is currently arresting people who flout Covid-19 safety laws in Awka and environs.
The exercise is in line with the efforts of the Anambra state government to curtail the spread of coronavirus in the state.
The team commenced the exercise at Dr Alex Ekwueme square in Awka, through Arroma junction, Unizik junction, Kwata Roundabout, Amawbia junction, before proceeding to Onitsha, where they arrested over one hundred persons who were not putting on their facemasks.
The taskforce led by the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Obiano on Legal Matters, Barrister Chika Ekwenugo, was accompanied by officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force, Civil Defence, Road Safety Corps, and Anambra Traffic Management Agency, ATMA.
TNC correspondent gathered that some of the people who were picked from Tricycles, commercial buses, various junctions, roadsides, were without any facemask, while some have theirs in pockets, and others were putting their own on the jaw.
The defaulters were taken to Magistrate Court Amawbia where they will be charged for community service or ten thousand naira fine or both as stated by the Anambra state Covid-19 law.
Meanwhile, some residents of the state have lashed back at the government for what they tagged very harsh action against the citizens.
A trader, Ononiwu Maxwell, said the state government was selective in the enforcement of the COVID protocols, as major violators were left and the poor masses targeted.
He faulted the arrest of an entertainer arrested while performing, arguing that due to the nature of his job, he needs enough air.
“Why would government or the taskforce pick up that young boy entertaining a crowd? Can you ask a football player to use face masks. We have schools where government has failed to provide facilities for washing hands. Yet it has the guts to arrest a poor boy entertaining people. This is so unfair,” he regretted.
For a senior citizen, Chukwuka Agbaka, the decision of the state government to lift the curfew it imposed last week, was clear indication that it was selective in its disposition.
“Just last week Monday, Anambra Government imposed a 9pm to 6am curfew that was to last for one week. But because one of their own had a night show on Saturday and Sunday, government quickly lifted the curfew. Don’t be surprised if you hear that they have reintroduced it again. The level of nepotism in this administration is beyond pardon and if care is not taken, Anambra people may revolt in the nearest future,” he said.
