Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State has directed the Police command in the state to arrest and prosecute fake Covid-19 task force operatives who harass and extort money from ndi Anambra while posturing as government agents.
The Governor gave the directive yesterday in a broadcast at the Governor’s Lodge, Onitsha, to provide update on the government’s fight against Covid-19 in the state.
During the broadcast, Governor Obiano said that he has “been reliably informed that a group of criminals parading in fake Covid-19 Task Force uniforms have been arresting people and extorting huge sums of money from them while posturing as working for the government of Anambra State”.
Consequently, he directed the state police command “to search for, arrest and prosecute anybody masquerading as a Covid-19 Task Force operator”.
Governor Obiano also observed that the fake task force operatives had been reported to operate in Onitsha, Nkpor and Obosi. He revealed that the only agencies authorized to enforce the Anambra State Covid-19 Law are members of OCHA Brigade, ATMA and members of market Covid-19 task forces.
The Governor stressed that “any other agency or group of people, masquerading as Covid-19 Task Force on the streets of Anambra State is fake”.
Continuing, Obiano emphasized the need for early testing and treatment as veritable means for surviving Covid-19. According to him, “available data shows that all the patients who submitted to the call for early testing and treatment by our team survived the pandemic.
“The experience we have gained from managing the pandemic shows that early case detection and management play a major role in patients’ survival of Covid-19 patients”.
The Governor seized the opportunity to inform ndi Anambra that the state’s Covid-19 test centre which was recently activated by NCDC has commenced testing since last week.
He said that the centre which is situated in the mega laboratory of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Amaku, has been able to test 208 samples in just two days, noting that the state has collected a total of 618 samples and conducted 590 tests since the index case.
“Out of this figure, 101 were confirmed Covid-19 positive while 489 tested negative. 77 people have been successfully treated and discharged while we have 28 samples awaiting results from our laboratory”, he further stated.
Obiano encouraged ndi Anambra to report early for testing. He urged them not to panic should number of cases rise in the state in the coming days. He said that this is expected as the state prepares to ramp up testing.
In his words, “Ndi Anambra, when you see a sudden surge in the number of cases from our dear state, please do not panic because it is a major part of our fight back against the pandemic. Biko, unu atuna egwu!”
Concluding, he called for strict compliance to established Covid-19 protocols and stressed the importance of early testing which will lead to early detection and management.
Credit: Ikenna Aniagboso
Photo: Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano.
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