Akwa Ibom State Government has banned the use of siren by unauthorised persons in the state.
The State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel who gave the instruction after an emergency State Executive Council meeting in government House, Uyo, therefore directed law enforcement agents to apprehend defaulters.
Addressing newsmen after the meeting, State Commissioner of Information, Mr. Charles Udoh, explained that the ban is to bring sanity and forestall wrong usage of sirens within the state.
Mr. Udoh stated that the law has authorised the State Governor, Deputy Governor, Speaker of the state House of Assembly to use the siren. Others permitted are Ambulances and Fire fighting Trucks on emergencies.
He said ” the Council frowns at the indiscriminate use of sirens by people in the State, the law prescribes that only three people are permitted to use siren; these persons are His Excellency the Governor, Deputy Governor and the Speaker.
“Every other person who uses siren in the state is doing so illegally and the council has also mandated the security agencies to apprehend anyone who violates this order and bring them to book, the idea is that we need to have a sane society where there is law and order; we need to have a society where status is respected”.
The Commissioner also explained that the Council deliberated on the 32nd anniversary of the state creation and decided that it would be low key.
He hinted that the anniversary would feature commissioning of the Digital Power Substation at Ekim, Kings Flour Mill, Plywood Factory, Renovated Immanuel Hospital at Eket, General Hospital at Awa -Onna Local Government Area and some dualized road projects by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo
“Also deliberated at the floor of the house was the fact that later this month, Akwa Ibom State will be 32. To mark that anniversary, government has clearly said that this year’s celebration will be a low key event, where there will not be too much of fanfare since it is not a landmark event as we had in 2017 during the 30th anniversary of the state. Here emphasis will be mostly on project commissioning”, he explained.
