GIFT ROBERTS
Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi has banned all social activities in the state beyond 6:00pm.
He also placed a 10-hour curfew on the state entry and exit points beginning from 8:00pm to 6:00 am.
He said that defaulters would be meant to pay N1 million as fine.
This was even as the governor also gave a seven-day ultimatum to native doctors and traditional medicine dealers in the state to register with government agencies or be arrested and prosecuted.
Umahi made the declarations after a security meeting at the government house Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital.
He said, “We have agreed that all native doctors in the state and traditional medicine dealers must within seven days today register with the Commissioner for Border Peace, with the Commissioner for health and with the Commissioner of Police.
“We are aware that there are some killings over the weekend; a policeman was killed, two army men were killed and I think one civilian and their killers are pure bandits. They do these killings and put it on social media that they are members of IPOB or ESN.
“Without standing for either IPOB or ESN but they continue to deny that they are not into violence but for me, criminality is criminality and I have directed security agencies to crackdown on all criminal activities in the state. And for those who did the killings, the security agencies must bring them to book within 72 hours, they must do that.
“We agreed that there is rampant fake news in Ebonyi State. Like today, somebody posted that herdsmen are in Ebonyi and they are killing people and schools started closing down, students and pupils started running helter-skelter, is that what we will continue to tolerate?
“And so, I have directed whether you are in opposition, whether you are in agreement, whatever thing you are, you should be tracked down so that you should be going to court to prove whatever thing you are putting forward.
“We have directed that all wake-keep in the state must end by 6:pm and the local government chairmen, security agents and Ebubeagu must enforce this.
“All social activities must end by 6:pm. When you defy this order, you will pay a minimum of N1 million because a lot of hoodlum activities happen during this week, keep going into the night.”