Moving in Public without facemasks now criminal offence in Rivers

BY IBRAHIM BAKARE

Rivers State House of Assembly has passed a bill into law  which makes it a criminal offence to move about without facemasks.

Facemask

The Bill which was sponsored  by the member representing Emohua Constituency, and Chairman, House Committee on Health, Sam Ogeh, is titled “Enforcement of Wearing of Face Masks”

When it was tabled for debate, Ogeh said the bill would give the Rivers State Ministry of Health and law enforcement agencies the legal right to arrest and punish offenders, adding that the bill would further help to check the spread of the virus hence.

Commenting on the bill, the Speaker, Ikwuinyi Owaji-Ibani, said “A new enemy (Coronavirus) introduced into the World has altered all that had been here; that is why as human beings, we must be able to acknowledge and recognize the difference before the advent of coronavirus pandemic.”

“When people take life for granted, life will also take them for granted.”

The Speaker also regretted that the citizens are not cooperating with the government in the efforts to protecting them from the deadly virus.

“As we know that the first fundamental duty of governments is to protect life and property; if the government has directed in the interest of all that we should wear face masks, wash our hands, these are the basic minimum that anyone can do to ensure basic hygiene, and we must do these to help government,” Owaji-Ibani said.

“Covid-19 pandemic is killing people, people are dying in their number, the number is huge, we as citizens should also play our own role to live for the future.

The details of the Bill and magnitude of punishment had not been made clear, perhaps because it is awaiting the Governor Nyesom Wike’s assent.

Like in other states, in second wave of the Covid-19 the reported cases have been on the rise in Rivers and majority of the people are no more wearing facemasks and neither are there observance of Covid-19 Protocols in public places.