RIVERS State Governor, Nyesom Wike, said on Tuesday that the State Security Council would meet on Wednesday to assess the situation in Bonny as it concerns COVID-19 with a view to considering a possible lockdown of the area.
Wike said the rising cases of the viral disease in the state should give every right-thinking person a serious concern.
The governor, who made these remarks while addressing the traditional rulers of Grand Bonny at the Government House in Port Harcourt, said he would not want the area to be the epicentre of the disease in the state.
“Bonny is strategic to the national economy and we have to work together to ensure that the disease does not cripple the economy.
“We have to make our people stop living in denial about the existence of COVID-19 because such attitude will not allow them to take the necessary precautions.
“The results of samples collected from Bonny indicate that the community can be an epicentre of the pandemic in the state if a drastic action is not taken.
“When this pandemic started in the state, I raised the alarm that 60 per cent of the cases were from rig workers and had to impose lockdown on Port Harcourt and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas,” he said.
Earlier, the Amayanabo of Grand Bonny, King Edward Dappa Pepple, noted that despite efforts made to enlighten the people, most of them still lived in denial.
