Ololade Adeyanju/
A father in Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, has handed his recalcitrant son to security agents for defying the COVID-19 lockdown order to travel from Lagos to the state.
A video of the encounter between the man, identified as Mr. Femi Adeoye, and the security agents at the popular Fajuyi roundabout in Ado-Ekiti went viral on social media.
The man claimed he had warned his son, who identified himself as Babafemi in video, not to embark on the journey due to the risk it posed to himself, his immediate family and the community at large.
He therefore refused to allow the young man into his house, insisting that the state government must quarantine him for 14 days or pending when his COVID-19 status could be determined.
He consequently entered his car and drove off, leaving the young man with the security officials who were urging him to go home with his father.
NewsmakersNG learnt that after the young man had defied his warning, the father had reported him to security agents who used his telephone line to track his movement before intercepting him at Fajuyi roundabout.
While being interviewed by security officials, the young man said he spent N12,000 on transportation from Lagos to Ado-Ekiti.
He said he first took a bus from Lagos to Abeokuta, from where he entered another bus with 11 other passengers.
See video:
Meanwhile, Ekiti State government has reacted to the video in a statement today by the Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation, Muyiwa Olumilua.
Read statement below:
PRESS STATEMENT ON VIRAL “FATHER REJECTS SON” VIDEO
Wednesday April 29, 2020.
The attention of the Ekiti State Covid-19 Taskforce has been drawn to a video clip in circulation where a man refused to allow his son, who just returned from a trip outside the state, into his house until he had been isolated for 14 days as stipulated by NCDC protocol for preventing community spread of COVID-19 in Ekiti State.
The Task force commends Mr Femi Adeoye, for refusing to cover-up his son’s travel history and for denying him access into the house without confirming his COVID-19 status.
Mr Adeoye epitomizes the Ekiti ethos of selflessness, which places greater
premium on the collective good of the society above personal and emotional
considerations. This is the core of the Values Orientation policy of the
Fayemi-led Administration.
We also consider it necessary to inform members of the public that the video was recorded about four days ago, by one of the security men attached to the Fajuyi Pavilion, where the Enforcement Taskforce uses as its base for coordination of daily operations.
The security man who recorded the encounter is neither a health worker, nor
qualified or authorized to determine the health status of the young man. So, none of his actions or misstatements reflect the capacity or preparedness of the State Taskforce to combat the COVID-19 virus.
The officer in questionhas been suspended pending further investigations, for acting outside the jurisdiction of his scope of authority.
Following the encounter, the young man has been in the custody of the State for the past 4 days, and has since been taken to one of the designated quarantine centres, where he would be for 14 days, in line with laid down procedure that dictates that anyone who sneaks into the State, would be quarantined for fourteen (14) days, at their own cost.
His samples will also be taken for testing in order to ensure he has not been infected in the course of his travels to high incidence areas of the country.
We implore members of the public to emulate the patriotic zeal of Mr Adeoye, and promptly report to the Ekiti State Covid-19 Taskforce, any out-of-State traveler who sneaks into their neighbourhood, or places of abode.
This is to safeguard against the likely health hazard that such returnees
portend for the larger society.
Signed
Aare Muyiwa Olumilua
Honourable Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation.