Metro
Lagos threatens to shut down markets not adhering to social distancing rules
The Lagos State Government on Monday threatened to shut down any market in the state that fails to adhere to social distancing rules.
The Corps Marshal of the Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), Gbemisola Akinpelu, made the threat on Monday, adding that the social distancing measure was necessary to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Urging traders to comply with the social distancing rule to avoid being sanctioned, Akinpelu said the agency will continue to ensure that all markets in the state adhere strictly to the directive through advocacy campaigns and sensitisation.
She said: “As a way of ensuring compliance with the social distancing order in markets, the Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps advises traders to ensure strict compliance with the order and defaulters will be appropriately sanctioned by the state government and the markets will be shut down as directed by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources.
Read also: Saint Nicholas Hospital suspends services over COVID-19
“Overcrowded areas such as our market places will help to increase the spread of this coronavirus pandemic if social distancing is not adhered to and this will pose a great danger to the efforts of the state government at combating the spread of the virus.
“I want to urge the traders to maintain cleanliness around the markets and stop trading on road setbacks and drainages, and engage in regular hand-washing with soap and water as well as regular use of hand sanitizers and face mask.”
The LAGESC boss also advised persons, who had no business in the markets, to stay away in order to reduce the numbers of people in the markets.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...