By Stanley Nwanosike
Mr Everestus Obiyo, Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Enugu State Command, has turned back 15 Enugu-bound vehicles, mostly commercial buses, at the Enugu-Abia boundary.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Denny Iwuchukwu, said in a statement on Wednesday in Enugu that the vehicles and their occupants were turned back on Tuesday.
Iwuchukwu said the commandant took the action while conducting an on-the-spot check on boundaries between Enugu and neighbouring states.
He said the commandant’s action was to enforce the Federal Government’s banning of interstate movement of persons not on essential duty, to check the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.
Iwuchukwu said that the commandant was told by security men at the boundary that the vehicles parked, because they were denied entry into the state.
The NSCDC chief was told by the security personnel at the boundary that the vehicle operators did not heed the directive to return to where they were coming from.
He told the drivers and the passengers to turn back or risk being taken to isolation centre for 14 days, to determine their coronavirus status.
Iwuchukwu said that the transport operators and their passengers quickly rushed into their vehicles, to avoid being quarantined.
The commandant lauded the efforts of the security team, for their insistence on doing the right thing.
He, however, advised them not to betray the confidence reposed in them by the government and the people.
The NSCDC official stated that any form of compromise on their part could be dangerous to them and members of their families.
