Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has revealed that a woman tried to import coronavirus (COVID-19) into the state from Abuja.
In a statement on Wednesday, Mr Wike said the unnamed woman was stopped by agents after beating security at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
“It is with gratitude to God that I announce to you that our state would have been infected with coronavirus yesterday, but for the vigilance of security agents who, acting on a tip-off prevented an infected person from boarding a flight from Abuja to Port Harcourt,” he said.
“The infected person beat all security measures that were put in place at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and was to sneak into Port Harcourt before security agents stopped her.”
Wike added that the State Security Council met on Tuesday in view of the incident and adopted “stringent measures to protect those living and doing business in the state from the virus.”
He said: “The council has therefore taken the following painful decisions: 1. With effect from 6 pm on Thursday, March 26, 2020, the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa will not be open to air traffic.
“While we may not have the right to stop flights from entering Port Harcourt, we cannot allow anybody coming from the airport to enter our state. We are confident that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and other federal agencies will cooperate with us.
“2. All Land and Sea Borders will be closed. 3. Vehicular movements in an out of the state have been banned. In essence, no vehicle will leave Rivers State for any other state and no vehicle will be allowed to enter the state.”
