Governors impose two-week inter-state lockdown to stop coronavirus

Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi

Nigerian governors have agreed on a two-week inter-state lockdown to stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the country.

The governors reached the decision on Wednesday during a meeting, just after Nigeria recorded its highest daily tally of infected persons – 117.

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, said the inter-state lockdown would help halt the continued rise in the number of cases as well as the spread of the pandemic.

According to him, the governors also resolved to set up COVID-19 committees at the regional level to be headed by health commissioners.

A communiqué issued by NGF spokesman, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, said “Only essential services will be permitted”.

Fayemi had on Tuesday spoken about the efforts of state governors in curbing the spread of COVID-19.

“We are very concerned. If you look at the number of times we met over the last one month. We’ve had five meetings which focused almost exclusively on COVID-19 and its spread and the concomitant economic effects on the Nigerian citizens,” Fayemi had said during a skype interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.