By Chris Paul Otaigbe
Most policemen out on duty to enforce the anti COVID-19 lockdown order on Lagos, Ogun states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are not equipped with protective gears raising fears that they could catch the Coronavirus.
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered a total lockdown of the two states and FCT beginning from Monday as part of the measures to prevent a further spread of the deadly virus in the country.
Policemen and other security agents quickly came out to enforce the order but were seemingly ill prepared to protect themselves from contracting the disease.
A move round town by KaftanPost in Lagos on the second day of the exercise showed policemen at checkpoints armed with weapons but not the ones that could fight or defeat the virus.
Many of the Police personnel manning the checkpoints from the Iponri axis to the Apongbon axis were not wearing hand gloves and face masks.
Within the suburbs such as Isheri-Olofin, Idimu, the situation was the same as the policemen were exposed to contracting the virus from some of the vehicles and even pedestrians they stopped to check.
Some of the policeman who spoke on condition of anonymity said they were not given hand gloves and nose masks by their superior officers who assigned them to the checkpoints.
The situation raises concern about the safety and health of the law enforcement agents as the Police personnel ought to have known that this particular operation is not their usual patrols and check point routine but a more sensitive one with health-specific demands.
Kaftan Post made several attempts to reach Frank Mba, the Force Public Relations Officer for some explanations, but he neither picked his calls nor replied the text messages from our Reporter.
President Mohammadu Buhari had on Monday, March 30, 2020, ordered a 14-day lockdown of Lagos and two other States as part of measures by the federal government to contain and prevent further spread of the covid-19 virus that has already infected 190 Nigerians with two deaths.
Nigeria is currently in the league of rapidly growing cases of the corona virus in Africa.
