The Bonny Improvement Association (BIA) has called on Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike to end the curfew he imposed on Bonny Local Government Area since July 10, 2020.

BIA also demanded for the release of the Banigo Four, Thompson Allison, Daniel Hart, Theophilus Ibiama and Sunny Hart, who were kidnapped at Finiapiri-Ama in Bonny LGA on Saturday, September 12, 2020.  

The curfew is two months, two weeks and two days, as Saturday, September 26, 2020 and has virtually shut down economic activities in the area.

The BIA believes the indefinite curfew has heightened the hardship being faced by the people of the area and worse still increased tensions in the area with regards to security challenges currently confronting the island LGA.

Chairman of the Port Harcourt Branch of the association, Professor Sodienye Abere, in a chat with Kristina Reports at the weekend, raised the alarm that “restricting movement of people undermines their capacity to checkmate incursions into their land and deprives them of economic benefits accruable from business activities that can only happen in the night.”  

“We are talking of kidnapping now, for over two weeks our people have been kidnapped without any word from the kidnappers. What if they are coming into the town in the night to spy on us and know where to go and what to do? And with the curfew there is now ay our people will be able to monitor these things.”

He also used the opportunity to call on the Governor and Chairman of Bonny LGA, David Irimagha to prioritize the rescue and safe return of the Banigo 4 to their beleaguered families, stressing that they should not be left to the mercy of their kidnappers, appealing that whatever needs to be done to secure their freedom should be done.

Prof. Abere, who is also the Chairman of the Bonny Environmental Consultants Committee (BECC), stated that it was important that the Governor reconsider the imposition of the curfew with a view to ending it in line with the Federal Government’s direction on easing of the lockdown, noting that the purpose of the curfew had long been served.

Wike had imposed a curfew on July 10, 2020 beginning from 8pm to 6am on Bonny LGA and Onne in Eleme LGA, raising curiosity as to why only one LGA out of 23 and one community is marked out for shutdown via a curfew.

Prof. Abere pointed out that in the considered view of the BIA, though the decision to shut down only one LGA out of 23 was a curious situation, the association believes the wisdom behind it cannot be assailed, urging the State Chief Executive to rescind his decision.  

The curfew was imposed to substitute the 17 days lockdown of Bonny LGA in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic making landfall in the area with an initial two positive cases which number rose astronomically to 68 at the last count.

The Public Health Emergency Operations Centre (PHEOC) of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in Rivers State has not given any update yet on the Covid-19 status of the LGA, an indication that either there were no new cases or no new samples have been taken for testing.

This has seen the State Government joining the Federal Government to begin relaxing the lockdown with the State Executive Council deciding at a meeting presided over Governor Wike on Friday, September 25, 2020 to reopen secondary schools, vocational and tertiary institutions, parks, restaurants, etc.