Border Closure: Task Force Flays Influx Of People Into Rivers …Accuses Security Agencies Of Compromise

The Rivers State Task Force on Street Trading, Illegal Markets and Motor Parks has raised alarm over the influx of people into Rivers State through the entry and exit points of the state despite the border closure by the state government.
The Coordinator of the task force, Hon Bright Amaewhule, disclosed this to newsmen in Port Harcourt shortly after monitoring some locations in the state.
Amaewhule warned that the state may be heading for trouble of the novel Coronavirus disease if something urgent was not done to halt the free movement of people into the state from other states.
He said, “It is sad that some people that live and do business here in Rivers State have flagrantly refused to abide by the policies and laws of the Rivers State Government in ensuring that more of our people do not suffer from COVID-19. And I also see that this happens at the boundary between Etche-Omuma-Imo and Abia States.
“Now, if you come again to Oyigbo, Tai and Khana axis of Rivers State, these are basically where these people that come from other states enter Rivers State, thereby violating the laws of Rivers State Government on COVID-19.
The task force coordinator accused some security personnel of complicity, saying that there were allegedly collecting bribes and allowing people into the state, noting that the State Security Council must act in addition to the measures put in place to prevent people who may be coming into Rivers State with symptoms of the Coronavirus.
“I know the governor, even the State Executive Council and the State Security Council have put measures in place to ensure the safety of lives and property of people that live and do business here. But by my own observation, some of the security agencies that are being stationed at these border posts have resorted to collecting bribe and extorting money from those who want to enter Rivers State to do business.
“What they do is that they ask you to park at a particular point, when they see that the atmosphere is free, they now ask you to pay N1,000, N1,500 or N2,000 depending on the goods that you are carrying. That is why you see the influx of people coming into the state from these points,” Amaewhule explained with bitterness.