Why FG May Extend Lockdown in Lagos, Abuja, –Mohammed

BY CAMI EZENWA

There is every likelihood that Lagos, Abuja and Ogun residents will spend more days locked down except they start obeying social distancing rules to the latter.

This warning was handed down by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Friday, while he was featuring in a forum providing updates on COVID-19.

“If we don’t behave ourselves, there is likely that the lockdown will be extended, but if we behave ourselves, there might not be an extension and I hope we do so”, who is a member of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 warned.

“If we stay at home for two weeks and we are doing everything we are supposed to do, we should be able to effectively contain the disease.

“Therefore, my appeal to Nigerians is that they should obey the directive on social distancing, personal hygiene and shun gatherings; after two weeks, we will resume our normal life.

“But if they think it is a joke, then we may have to stay at home more than the two weeks.”

Fears that the federal government may extend the lockdown flows from reports of constant breach of the isolation rules as set by it.

Recall also that President Muhammadu Buhari had, in a national broadcast earlier directed the cessation of all movement in the FCT, Lagos and Ogun States for an initial period of 14 days.

He said all citizens in the affected areas are to stay at home, adding that the containment period would be used to identify, trace and isolate individuals that had come in contact with confirmed cases.

But The Eagle investigations show that although people are willing to obey the instruction, there are also some who are pressured by survival.

Our reporter who observed the situation in the high density neighbourhood of Ikotun in Lagos for example observed that some streets were busy, with people carrying on as in normal times. (Details report later).

In the Akute area of Ogun state also, the order was obeyed to the latter in the first two days, but individuals began to stream to the streets thereafter, with some of them saying they were already tired staying indoors, moreso, because the initial money they started the isolation with, had begun to run down.

Should this be the situation in more areas and localities, the federal government may have no option than extend the lockdown days.