Health workers, food vendors, journalists, others exempted from Lagos, Abuja lockdown

Health workers, food manufacturers and retailers, as well as journalists, were among those exempted from the movement restriction President Muhammadu Buhari imposed on Lagos, Ogun and Abuja.

President Buhari in his first address to Nigerians on the coronavirus crisis, on Sunday, ordered residents of Lagos, Ogun and Abuja to stay at home for 14 days from Monday.

“Based on the advice of the Federal Ministry of Health and the NCDC, I am directing the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days with effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020. This restriction will also apply to Ogun State due to its close proximity to Lagos and the high traffic between the two States,” the president said.

Lagos and Abuja are the hardest-hit with 68 and 21 cases respectively of Nigeria’s 111 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Sunday night.

Mr Buhari also said relief materials would be deployed to the affected states in the coming weeks though he did not mention the type of relief packages.

– Premium Times