A UK returnee into Okpanam in Oshimili North Local Government Area, Delta State, (name withheld), who reportedly assaulted Surveillance Officers of the Emergency Operation Committee on COVID19 have been arrested and forced to go on self-isolation.
The man was said to have returned from London on March 23rd and has refused to isolate himself ,instead he has be said to be moving freely in the town without observing the 14 days mandatory self-isolation period.Irked by his behaviour, some residents of the community according to a reliable source who spoke to Afnews reporter Eluwa Tochukwu ,said residents in the community reported the matter to Surveillance Officers of the Emergency Operation Committee on COVID19, adding that the returnee assaulted the team members who went to his residence with the intention of advising him to go on self-isolation.The man was however apprehended and taken to Okpanam Police Station for interrogation but was not detained for fear of spreading the virus in case he has been infected.
Reacting to the incident in a statement, the Delta State Commissioner for Health, Dr Mordi Ononye, said “Surveillance Officers who acted on the information of a returnee from London that failed to self-isolate in line with government directives were assaulted by the returnee.Ononye in the statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Mr Donald Ojobo, said members of the Okpanam Community had reported of a case of a recent returnee from London who did not self-isolate.
He reiterated that the officers who promptly responded by visiting him were assaulted by the returnee. The returnee who later apologised said he was offended because he was being “treated like a leper” since his returning into the country from London, adding that his action towards the Covid 19 surveillance officers was a transfer of aggression.
However, the man in question is said to returned to his home where he is currently under self-isolation under the surveillance of security personnel and will be monitored daily by the Surveillance team until the mandatory 14 days self-isolation period elapses.
