Residents of some communities in the Federal Capital Territory, Ogun and Lagos states on Sunday violated the President Muhammadu Buhari’s lockdown order.
On Saturday and Sunday, our correspondents in the FCT observed that although there was compliance with the order within the Abuja metropolis, residents of its suburbs, who cited hunger, went out contrary to the government’s directive.
In Ogun State, the Deputy Governor, Noimot Salako-Oyedele, in a statement on Sunday, decried the level of compliance in the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area.
Residents of Lagos areas such as Iyana-Ipaja, Ketu and Alapare cited hunger for violating the lockdown.
The President had, in a nationwide broadcast on February 29, imposed 14-day lockdown on the FCT, Lagos and Ogun states to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases, which increased to 232 on Sunday.
In the FCT, security personnel consisting of the police and the Federal Road Safety Corps officials chased away traders from Kuje market in the Kuje Area Council on Sunday.
One of our correspondents, who was in the area between 2pm and 3pm, observed that while the market was locked, traders displayed their goods at its entrance.
On sighting the security men, some traders took to their heels and abandoned their wares which included clothes, food and cosmetics.
However, the security men were civil with those who had the courage to stay behind. They appealed to the traders to respect the sit- at- home order.
A barber, who gave his name simply as Tunde, was working in his shop not far away from the market.
He told The PUNCH that security men regularly patrolled the area to enforce the order.
He said, “The security officials, especially policemen, have been coming here very often. Some of them insist that I close my shop, but others allow me after convincing them that mine is an essential service.”
In Ogun State, street urchins, cultists and some traders defied the sit-at-home order.
The lockdown, which commenced in the state on Friday night, recorded substantial compliance in many parts, but some residents of Sango-Ota and Ewekoro did not stay at home
Some miscreants in Ota defied the restriction of movement in the area while scrambling for foodstuffs donated by the state government .
An eye witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the miscreants besieged the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government headquarters following an announcement that foodstuffs would be shared in the place.
According to the source, the miscreants ran amok when they failed to get their share of the foodstuffs.
