Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has urged traditional rulers
and opinion leaders of Bonny Kingdom to ensure that their people
understand that COVID-19 is real.
They are also to cooperate with the state government to ensure that all
COVID-19 protocols are obeyed to contain the spread of the pandemic in
the area.
Addressing the king and traditional rulers of Grand Bonny at Government
House Port Harcourt, Governor Wike said he would not want the area to
be the epicentre of the disease in the State.
“Bonny is strategic to the national economy and we have to work together
to ensure that the disease does not cripple the economy.
“We have to make our people stop living in denial about the existence of
COVID-19 because such an attitude will not allow them to take the
necessary precautions.
“The results of samples collected from Bonny indicate that it could be
an epicentre of the pandemic in the state if drastic action is not
taken.
“It is not something our people should pretend that it does not exist.
Something that has taken the world by storm and killing more than
conventional warfare should be taken seriously.
“When this pandemic started in the State, I raised the alarm that 60 per
cent of the cases were from rig workers and had to impose lockdown of
Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas.
“So many were not happy. What will be my joy to close down businesses if
not to save a life. I have the responsibility to make sure that the
people that have given me their mandate are alive. Will I be governor of
the dead? Some of us do not appreciate that we have to make sacrifices
if that is going to save our people”, he said.
Governor Wike said the State Security Council would meet on June 17,
2020, to review the situation in Bonny to consider a possible lockdown.
He said the rising cases of the pandemic in the State should give every
right-thinking person serious concern.
He announced that the State would soon publish guidelines that would
guide the conduct of marriages during this period.
Amayanabo of Grand Bonny, king Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple
noted that despite efforts made to enlighten the people, most of them
still live in denial.
While pledging the support of the kingdom to the state government in
addressing the health crisis, King Pepple appealed that medical relief
and palliatives should be provided to ease the hardship the people might
experience during a lockdown.
Vice-chairman of Bonny Council of Chiefs, SeAlabo Haniel Jack-Wilson-
Pepple commended Governor Wike for putting the lives of the people first
in the fight against COVID-19 and for approving a 30-Bed Treatment
Centre for Bonny.