As part of measures to further curtail the spread of the Coronavirus to Benue state, the State Government has inaugurated a special taskforce on International and Interstate Border Control.
The Taskforce will henceforth, man the state borders with Cameroon at Abande in Kwande local government as well as all entry points to Benue from neighbouring states of Nasarawa, Kogi, Cross River, Ebonyi, Enugu and Taraba.
Deputy Governor and Chairman of Benue State Action Committee on COVID-19, Mr. Benson Abounu, who inaugurated the Committee at the government House in Makurdi, said the essence is to check and prevent visitors and travellers who have symptoms of the virus from entering the state.
Mr. Abounu said the state is faced with challenges of imported form of transmission and community transmission and explained that the Committee will be responsible for preventing such both at the state and international borders.
He pointed out that the state would be in a lot of trouble if she allows people who are positive with the Coronavirus to come into the state. “We just discovered that bus loads of people coming from Lagos are entering the state and some are sneaking from the state to Lagos and even the FCT. We need to stop it”.
Abounu who charged members of the committee to take their assignment with all seriousness said “the life of Benue people are now in your hands. Do not take bribe and allow people who are positive to sneak into the state.
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Abounu said apart from embarking on massive sensitisation, the State Action Committee has been very busy responding to distress calls by concerned people of the state and has succeeded in tracking all COVID-19 suspected cases for testing.
He expressed gratitude to God that apart from the index case, which had since been transferred to Abuja, Benue has not recorded another positive case as all the samples of those suspected of having the symptoms which were taken to Abuja tested negative.
The Deputy Governor urged the taskforce to enforce the curfew at every entry point and help stop people with symptoms of the illness from getting into the state.
Responding on behalf of the committee members, Mr. Adango Oko-Jaja of the Nigeria Immigration Service, who is the Chairman of the taskforce on the Nigeria/Cameroon international boundary, thanked the State Government for having confidence in them and gave assurance that the team would put in their best to ensure that Benue remains Convid-19 free.
Members of the taskforce were drawn from the Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Benue Vigilante Group, local government security officers, Department of State Security, SSS, Nigerian Army, Primary Health Care Personnel and the Sstate Boundary Commission.
