Osun state government has disclosed that plans have been concluded to deport some Northerners who sneaked into the state from Zamfara.
This step, governor Gboyega Oyetola said was a precautionary measure to contain community transmission of the dreadful Coronavirus ravaging the country and the world at large.
The Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, in a statement made available to newsmen, Friday, disclosed this.
The government stated that it was following presidential directive that banned all interstate travels and movement, stressing that the state’s boundaries are currently shut.
Egbemode who disclosed that the Osun government was taken aback by the misinterpretation of its statement in which it sounded an alarm about the activities of illegal miners in the state and those breaching its orders, said the government recognises the right of every Nigerian to live anywhere within the country but will however act within legal and moral boundaries by returning the illegal miners to their last known addresses.
She noted that the state government “believes in the unity of the nation but will not hesitate to take actions against those who breach its boundaries and try to jeopardise the health of its people.”
She also disclosed that “the state has shown highest regards to the respective state governments of the concerned people by attempting to return them to their places rather than prosecuting them under the State’s Emergency Regulation.
“Every state in the country is upscaling its security measures in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic, and other vices. Zamfara State government, a few days back, arrested some suspected illegal miners in the state,” she said.
“If ‘alleged’ illegal miners are abhorred in Zamfara, why then should the state of Osun be crucified for being safety conscious?”
The Commissioner noted that the government being responsible and responsive places premium on the health and safety of its people, and will continue to do everything within its power to protect its citizenry.
In a related development, some Northerners were intercepted at Ilesa/Akure Expressway and were sent back to their state.
The Chairmen of Atakumosa East, Ilesha Northeast, Atakumosa west central, and Atakumosa East Central Local Government were all there.
The Chairman, Ilesa North, Mr Oladipo Adeniyi, who disclosed this, stated that the Northerners came in two buses. He said, “We did not allow them to enter Ilesha at all.
“We swung to action with the help of the security agents and other officials. We stopped them around the express road around 3pm on Thursday.
“We will will not allow any passenger to enter into the state at all for now. The security manning our boundaries are doing very fine now”, Adeniyi stated.
