Anambra state government has condemned the alleged extortions of residents of the state by some police officers over face masks violation.
Commissioner for Health, Dr Vincent Okpala stated this while responding to a caller, who identified himself as Mr Nnamdi from Nnobi during an ABS Radio, Facebook live streaming programme .
The caller had alleged that some policemen were extorting N5, 000 from face mask violators.
The commissioner cautioned that the state government did not in any way mandate policemen to collect money.
“People should help us by reporting with evidence, those criminal elements sabotaging government’s genuine effort,” he said.
He hailed the State Government’s early proactive measures in containing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the State.
Okpala noted that the State had before the index case recorded in the state carried out massive sensitisation, awareness campaigns, trained stakeholders and relevant bodies on COVID-19 safety measures.
He urged the public to keep observing COVID-19 preventive measures installed in the state and to join in the fight against the pandemic.
He emphasised that the pandemic was still a global issue, which had yet to be defeated and as such all preventive guidelines by World Health Organisation (WHO), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the State should be maintained.
He explained that the construction of standard Protective Care Centres in the state by Gov. Willie Obiano before the index case was recorded showed his commitment in the fight against the pandemic.
He said, “Government constituted COVID-19 Committee members, Taskforce, Action team from markets, parks and communities even at the Ward levels.
“All these were geared toward ensuring the containment and safety of our people; at level of the ministry, we continued to monitor compliance.
“We as well went round with a taskforce, including the Operation Clean and Healthy Anambra (OCHA Brigade) to enforce safety measures and sensitise the people.”
While reminding residents of the state that the state has two functional COVID-19 Testing Centres at Awka and Onitsha General Hospitals, the Commissioner enjoined them to avail themselves of the opportunity and go for testing.
