Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has announced the current window of relaxation of the lockdown in the state from 7.00 am to 2.00 pm would be suspended Friday.

The governor, on Tuesday, said the state would soon commence strict enforcement of wearing of face masks in the public, claiming it had shown to help flatten the spread of the coronavirus.

Abiodun In his first official response on Tuesday to the national broadcast of the President, General Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), lauded the president for the extension .

The Governor in the statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary of State, Kunle Somorin, commended the president for providing the necessary leadership especially for its efforts to combat the deadly coronavirus in the country.

Abiodun however, enjoined the citizens and residents of the State to endure the 14-day extension of the lockdown in the state.

He urged residents the state to consider the extension a necessary sacrifice to defeat an invisible and deadly enemy that he said requires its victims as unwitting vectors of its deadly venom.

He said,

“We must deny the virus the vital supply chain required to decimate humanity by complying with all the social distancing measures and maintaining personal hygiene.”

He said his administration remains committed in its twin-responsibility of protecting lives and properties in the State and ensuring the welfare of the citizens.

According to him, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an unusual challenge to strike a delicate balance of need for public safety and welfare of the citizenry.

“Therefore, the current window of relaxation of the lockdown in the state from 7.00am to 2.00pm, which follows the same pattern of last week, will still be available for this Wednesday (15th April) and Friday (17th April, 2020) only.

“This is to allow the residents prepare for the extension of the lockdown and restock on food and other essential items. However, Ogun State borders remain closed.

“It should be emphasised that people should only go out if they need to and are required at all times when outside their homes to wear a face mask, including locally made face masks, even as they observe other social distancing measures.”

On the enforcement of the use of face masks, he said,

“the state will soon commence strict enforcement of wearing of face mask in the public as it has been shown to help flatten the spread of the virus.”

Speaking on the distribution mechanism of the state’s relief materials, Abiodun said the Government had been fine-tuned the method to make it more effective and efficient in the delivery to the target population of the elderly, the poor and vulnerable.

He said,

“The new mechanism, the statement added, has incorporated the learning from the experience of the first phase and reassured the citizens that the materials would get to the deserving households sooner than later.

“The statement confirmed that the relief items have so far been distributed to over 60,000 households of the elderly, the poor and vulnerable in the state, covering about 300,000 individuals and the next phase of distribution to additional 80,000 households of estimated 400,000 people across the 236 wards will commence soon.