Kaduna State Government has imposed a curfew throughout the state, following the non-compliance to the lockdown measures that were earlier put in place to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state.
The deputy governor of the state, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, who made this known on Thursday during a state broadcast, said that the decision was in line with the 1999 constitution.
According to her, the decision is “in exercise of the powers vested in the Governor by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria1999, (as amended), Sections 2 and 8 of the Quarantine Act 1926 and the Kaduna State Public Health Law of 1917”.
Mrs Balarabe said the state has, therefore, been declared a public health area, while Coronavirus is hereby declared as a dangerous, infectious disease within the meaning of the ‘Quarantine Act’.
The deputy governor said that State Standing Committee on Covid-19 prevention met on Thursday to review global and national developments relating to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Committee also considered reports of unsatisfactory compliance levels with the preventive measures that have been outlined by the government in repeated announcements, and with increasing severity, over the past seven days,” she added.
Mrs Balarabe further said that apart from flouting the directive against large gatherings, “there were also reports of certain persons not obeying the ban announced on motorcycle, taxis and ‘Keke-Napep ’tricycles’.
She, therefore, warned that ‘’from midnight of Thursday, 26th March 2020, all residents of Kaduna State must stay at home. No offices, businesses of any sort or places of worship are allowed to open.’’
‘’We recognise that Kaduna State is a transport hub. Therefore, transit through Kaduna will be allowed, provided that such vehicles ply only the Western bye-pass,’’ she clarified.
According to her, Government recognises that this lockdown will consequences for everyone, but more so for the vulnerable persons in our communities.
‘’As indicated in previous statements, the government is procuring food and other supplies, funded from its contingency budget, to mitigate the challenges of a lockdown for such persons.
‘‘’These items will be distributed in community clusters across urban local government areas in the state. This will be a grassroots exercise, as it is people drawn from the the target community that will constitute the committee to manage the distribution,’’ she explained.
