COVID-19: El-Rufai told to ease lockdown in Kaduna

Some residents of Kaduna State on Tuesday appealed to the state government to review the lockdown extension announced on Sunday.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai had announced a 30-day extension of lockdown in the state to curb the spread of Coronavirus.

The residents made the appeal in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Tuesday.

They lamented that many daily income earners are starving as a result of the lockdown.

A trader, Garba Saidu, told NAN that the government should look into other alternatives of preventing the spread of COVID-19 rather than the lockdown as palliatives were not reaching everybody.

“I’m not happy with the extension order despite the increase in the number of cases in the state; the government should kindly think of other alternatives because of the low-income earners.

“How can we be locked down for almost two months? This is unfair.

“Government should please look for other means of curbing the spread of the virus.

“For example, people should be checked at the point of entry into the state or at worship places as well as banks,” he said.

Ummulkulthum Ahmed, an entrepreneur, suggested that people should be allowed to move within the state, while borders should be closed to any form of movement, rather than the lockdown.

She said that the wearing of face masks and social distancing should be made compulsory for all citizens and those found violating the order should be punished.

Abdulganiyyu Rayyan, a tailor, said that though he worked from home, he had neighbours who must go out before they earn money for their needs.

He said that people like them were not “the poorest of the poor” before the lockdown, but were now resorting to begging to survive.

He urged the government to distribute palliatives that would sustain families for the period of the lockdown, adding that “without that, it may be difficult for residents to obey the order.”