Lagos may extend lockdown, says Governor Sanwo-Olu declares

The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that the ongoing lockdown in the state might be extended beyond 14 days “if there is a need”.

He said this during a media briefing on Saturday.

He said the lockdown would be extended depending on the situation of things and in consultation with the Federal Government.

The governor was reacting to a question on whether the lockdown may be extended with the rising cases of coronavirus.

He was asked, “We are going into the second week of the lockdown from tomorrow (Sunday), the numbers are rising, do we expect an extension of the total lockdown in Lagos?”

Sanwo-Olu replied, “The first question is that are we going to extend the lockdown? So, it is a federal government directive. As such, we are reviewing what we are doing. This is just day five. So, we are in the first 14 days, we still have about eight or nine days to go.

“So, I’m sure that it’s something that all of us, including the federal authorities, will be reviewing. The lockdown was not only a directive of the governor; it was a national decision and it has national backing. So, if there is a need to extend, I can assure you that we will make the call.”

Sanwo-Olu said the restrictive measures were helpful in curbing the disease, noting that the lockdown had afforded the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to keep up and make appropriate progress in tracing of contacts.

“The restrictions have started paying off; the NCDC has told us that they have been able to take advantage of the absence of traffic on our roads to make appreciable progress in their contact tracing,” he added.

The governor also said that that the number of patients discharged in Lagos had risen to 24.

“We got one discharged patient today (Saturday),” he added.

On alleged assault of residents by enforcement agents, Sanwo-Olu said, “There’s been no backlash on the handling of people by the security operatives so far. I always tell them to ‘wear a human face’.”