The Irrua incident was said to have caught the hospital management and staff unawares, forcing some of the staff to go back home from the hospital.
“When I arrived the hospital this morning, I saw a multitude being guarded by the police and on enquiry, I was told they were intercepted overnight and they said they were going to Lagos.
“They said they have dropped some in Aviele that they are from Kano. The Police kept them overnight and then informed the state governor who immediately ordered that they should all be subjected to COVID-19 test before any action would be taken about them. They have been isolated and urgent testing has began to know the status of each of them”, a source disclosed.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Odijie Ohue, said yesterday that he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
But while confirming the incident, spokesman of the Edo State Police Command, Chidi Nwabuzor, said “Operatives intercepted the vehicle and took them to Irrua police station and when counted, it was 84 human beings including the driver and when they were interrogated they said they were coming from the North.
“They were taken to Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital for proper medical check and that has been done. The state government order is that security agents should escort them away to where they said they were going to, and that is the West, either Ogun state or Lagos.
On his part, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Patrick Okundia, said the 26 travellers in a truck were stopped at AGIP Junction along Sapele Road and moved to the Stella Obasanjo Hospital for screening and testing to ascertain their COVID-19 status before they were let off to continue their journey.
The commissioner stated that the cargo truck was conveying the 26 passengers and the driver, and was loaded with bags of salt.
He added that the truck was travelling from Rivers State and was waved down by security operatives at the AGIP Junction along Sapele Road, Benin City.
Sources however said three of the 26 passengers tested positive to COVID-19.
Commenting on the travelers from Kano, Okundia said “The management of the ISTH is screening and testing them. We are communicating and exchanging reports. The essence is to screen these persons and get them tested after which they will be allowed back into their truck to continue their journey and Police officers will escort them out of the state”.
The driver of the truck with registration number LSF 679 XZ spotted at Edo Central, John Monday, said he had just finished delivering his goods and decided to pick up the passengers who he claimed he charged between N500 and N700 on his way from Kano State en-route Ogun State
THE SUN
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