The Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, has called on the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Abubakar, as well as other security chiefs in the country to streamline and monitor the movement and operations of their men to prevent needless, avoidable and unfortunate occurrences of COVID -19 spread.
The governor, who spoke on Monday during a media briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the state, berated men of the Nigeria Police for what he described as their flagrant disregard to the shutdown of borders in the state.
Governor Akeredolu, who noted that the fight against the spread of COVID-19 can only be achieved if the state borders are optimally manned, stressed that security agents stationed at the borders were culpable by allowing free entry of people into the state.
“I wish to draw our attention to three things that are worthy of note in these current situations. Our borders are still porous and heavily compromised.
“Our security agents, who ought to enforce government’s restriction order, are themselves accomplices who abuse the trust placed in them at this critical time.
“Members of the public, upon witnessing this massive compromise by law enforcement agents and other Government officials, are thereby encouraged to defy the safety regulations and persist in error.
“I wish to call on the Inspector General of Police, the Service Chiefs of the Nigerian Armed Forces as well as the authorities of other security agencies, to streamline and monitor the movement and operations of their men at this time, to prevent needless, avoidable and unfortunate occurrences like this in the future.
“I also challenge them to enforce stricter compliance of their agents to their Operational Orders and the same regulations they are enforcing on all Nigerians.
“I believe there can be no corruption or malfeasance higher than any act of willful compromise that threatens lives, peaceful existence, well-being and sustainability of our society.
Akeredolu, who stated that there were two cases of coronavirus in the state before Saturday, lamented about the fourth and fifth cases who are officers of the Nigeria Police Force, serving under the Lagos State Police Command.
He explained that the two officers broke through all restrictions and border controls to enter the state even after one of them had been tested in Lagos on Thursday but failed to wait for the results before coming to Ondo State.
He said, “The fourth and fifth cases are officers of the Nigeria Police Force, serving under the Lagos State Police Command while the sixth case is a murder suspect who was arrested in Edo State and transferred to Ondo State for trial of crime earlier committed in Ondo State. The seventh case was a female civilian who sneaked into the State from Abuja.”