Falana wants govt to declare a state of emergency over coronavirus

A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency over the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in the country so as to back the restrictions put in place by the law.

Mr Falana made the call on Monday, in a statement, where he said, “In order to stem the dangerous trend the Federal Government should put necessary legal measures and mechanisms in place without any further delay,” the statement read.

“In particular, the attention of the Nigerian people ought to be drawn to section 45 of the Constitution which provides that the fundamental rights of citizens to personal liberty, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly and association etc may be infringed upon or restricted in the interest of public health and public safety.

“Therefore, President Muhammadu Buhari should, as a matter of urgency, issue a proclamation of a state of emergency in the entire Federation pursuant to section 305 (1) of the Constitution.

“Once the proclamation is issued by the President and published it is required to be approved by a resolution supported by two-thirds majority of each house of the national assembly.

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“Once the measures are set out in the said proclamation they will have the force of law capable of being enforced by the police and other security agencies. If President Buhari does not declare a state of emergency state governors are advised to issue Executive Orders to address the health challenge.”

Recall, that the government had put certain measures in place to curb the spread of the virus.

According to the Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Nigeria has now 36 cases in five states.

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