NYESOM Wike, the governor of Rivers state said the state is solely battling the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic without tangible material support from the federal government.
Wike said this during a state address on Friday afternoon during his briefing on COVID-19 in the state.
According to him, the federal government has refused to provide ‘any tangible material support for the state.
He added that hitherto the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has refused to set up a testing centre in Rivers state.
“Up till now the NCDC has not established any testing Centre in the state despite our socio-economic position in the state,” Wike said.
He alleged that NCDC’s action is deliberate because the Centre has been unable to justify not setting up a testing centre in the state.
Wike further noted that the Rivers state government is not at the peak of the fight against COVID-19 due to non-compliance of some individuals.
He said some cases were aided into the state by security officials who are supposed to enforce the task force guidelines.
The Rivers state governor gave a ‘last warning’ to Umu-okoro community leaders over non-compliance to the social distancing.
He noted that the community has continued to organise ‘night market’ against the state task force guidelines.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94