BEN Ayade, Governor of Cross River State has ordered all civil servants from grade level 10 and above in the state to resume work on Tuesday, April 14 amid coronavirus crisis in Nigeria.
Ayade’s directive to civil servants in the state was contained in a press statement signed by Christian Ita, his Special Assistant, Media and Publicity on Saturday evening.
According to the statement, all returning civil servants would receive nose masks from the state COVID-19 Response Task Force through their permanent secretaries respectively.
Ayade said all land, air and water borders to the state are to remain closed for another two weeks, adding that in case of emergency or evacuation by air, a certification by the national headquarters of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) would be required.
“All nose masks to be used in the state must be locally made, with the place of origin clearly marked, the sale of masks made by the Cross River State Garment Factory is prohibited. Masks are to be distributed free of charge,” the governor was quoted as said in the statement.
He further noted that the ‘no mask, no movement’ policy in Cross River is still in full force warning that no resident is allowed in public places such as markets, shopping malls, sports arena, banks etc without the use of appropriate nose mask while ban on mass gatherings like place of worships, weddings, burials etc remains intact.
Ayade noted that defaulters of the directive shall be prosecuted in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Cross River State Epidemic and Pandemic Law 2020.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94