By Joe Adedeji, Ilorin
Worried by the spate of influx of people contravening inter-state movement restriction order into Kwara State, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq enlisted the support of the labour, Civil Society Organizations (CSO) to help complement efforts of security agencies in policing entry points to the state.
The state had in the past one week intercepted scores of people from the northern part of the country who were loaded in trucks alongside goods and animals, attempting to cross the state en-route some south western States.
It became more disturbing when some who were intercepted at different posts by either military men, police, Civil Defence Corps and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were suspected to be relocating from the northern red zones to Kwara State.
Worse still, a number of such people who were consequently quarantined at the COVID-19 Centre were later tested and confirmed positive.
Apparently strongly concerned by the trend, the governor said: “It has been established that some people sneak into the state between 10p.m. and 5a.m. This poses a grave danger to us when you consider the fact that virtually all our COVID-19 cases were imported.
“We would like to have volunteers from Labour and the civil society who, working with the security agencies, would man our borders between those hours” , the governor said during a virtual meeting with leaders of CSOs in Ilorin, the state capital.
The CSOs were represented by Mallam Lawal Olohungbebe of the Centre for Community Development (KWASU); Dr Lateef Alagbonsi of the Elite Network for Sustainable Development (ENETSUD); Hajia Bilqees Oladimeji of the COVID-19 National CSO Emergency Intervention Group (CEIG); Idris Buko Musa of the Coalition of Kwara North Groups (CKNG); AbdulRahman Ayuba of the Centre for Community Empowerment and Poverty Eradication (CCEPE).
Others were Anthonia Oshiniwe of the Theios Caregivers Initiative; AbdulRasheed Sa’adudeen of the Volunteers of Ilorin Community and the Emirate (VOICE); and Saliu Saliu of the Haashim Initiative for Community Advancement (HICA).
The meeting was said to be a follow up to the first engagement AbdulRazaq had with some civil society leaders last month where he commended them for the “credible roles” they played in the distribution of government palliatives to the Vulnerable in the State.
The governor told the CSO leaders that he would offer incentives and security cover to volunteers who would form a border surveillance team manning the various entry posts of the state from its western and northern flanks.
Such flanks he said include Eiyenkorin, Oko Olowo and Jebba where the influx of people had been reported in the past few days.
He called on Kwara communities and individuals to take responsibility as the country struggles to flatten the curve of transmission of the virus amid rising infection rates.