Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike on Sunday oversaw the demolition of a hotel and a bar over the violation of the current lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus in the state.
The affected hotels are Prodest Hotel in Alode and Etemeteh Hotel in Onne both in Eleme Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
These buildings were demolished three days after Wike directed officials of the local government Task Force to identify hotels operating during the lockdown for demolition.
The governor, who inaugurated the task force on Thursday last week at the Government House in Port Harcourt, had also asked the officials to identify erring beer parlours.
“Government has no alternative but to apply the Executive order which I signed before the lockdown of Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt,” Wike tweeted, “I called all the Traditional Rulers and Council Chairmen and told them to ensure that no hotel operates in the State.”
“We are not saying it will be forever. This is for now, so that we know where we are. To reduce the cases and check the spread.
“We said if any hotel operates, Government will bring down that hotel. We are doing what we have told people that we are going to do.
“Nobody wants to obey any rules. We are saying just for now, keep off, let us see how we can keep our people safe.”
He warned that those who fail to comply with the government’s directives on measures put in place to curb the spread of coronavirus in Rivers would face the consequences.
Many Nigerians accused Wike of acting dictatorial for not following due process according to the rule of law.
“We condemn the reported demolition of Prodest Hotel by Gov Wike, Rivers State,” Socio-Economic Right And Accountability Project (SERAP) said.
“Using COVID-19 to perpetrate human rights violations is executive rascality and Mr Wike must stop this now.”
“We’re taking legal action to hold him & his govt. to account for illegal actions.”
The Guardian
