Following rising cases of COVID-19 pandemic in Borno State, the government has told travellers who do not want to be put in isolation to stay away from there.
The government maintained that putting travellers in isolation centres was one of the conditions the state government put in place to check spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in controlling community spread of the disease.
While reacting to complaints by travellers in isolation and awaiting testing, Usman Kadafur, deputy governor of the state, who spoke to Journalists, stressed that the state was doing everything possible to ensure that testing was done.
He, however, stated that any traveller who would not want to be kept in isolation centre should stay away from the state.
“When you consider the state of those in isolation centre, they should praise the government. In the first place, they should not expect us to violate the state laws. They should not expect us to take them to hotels.
“We kept them in the hajj camp and we are giving them food. We have been trying to see how we can increase the testing capacity of the state.
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“We have gotten all the testing machines, and we are waiting for officials of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). We expected them on Wednesday, now that the machines are on ground for them to come and certify them.
“The testing would be faster now because the equipment that we brought into the country are the latest ones. What is making the travellers complain at the hajj camp is because they would need to stay for at least 24 hours to get tested.
“You know that our testing capacity is too low because we are having influx from other local governments, but we are working very hard to increase our testing capacity,” he said.
The deputy governor, also chairman of COVID-19 task force in the state, said he would want to ask the travellers not to even complain, stressing that anyone who must complain had better stay where he or she was.
He maintained that anyone who entered Borno State must be put in isolation, as required by the state law.
“This law cannot be changed because of anybody. If you know that you don’t want us to put you in the isolation centre, remain in your state, don’t bother to come to Borno State,” he said.
