Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has expressed his views on the demolition of two Hotels in the state amidst massive criticism from the general public.
Wike had personally supervised the demolition of two hotels in the state for contravening an executive order on restrictions relating to COVID-19.
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Nigerians criticised the Governor on social media, saying he went too far in enforcing state COVID-19 laws.
Wike however dismissed the criticisms saying he acted in good faith.
Speaking in a state wide broadcast, Nyesom Wike revealed that the management of one of the hotels had unleashed thugs on the state COVID-19 task force when they visited the premises to shut it down initially.
The Rivers Governor said he enjoys genuine criticisms but the state government did not do anything wrong by pulling down both buildings.
“We acted against the hotelier because, apart from using the facility to jeopardise the lives of our citizens in violation of the extant law, the owner audaciously unleashed thugs led by the Eleme local government youth leader of the Peoples Democratic Party and inflicted severe injuries on our task force members who went to enforce the law against the continued operation of the hotel.
“As we speak, nobody knows the fate of the lives of most of the victims of that brazen and deadly attack given the severity of the head injuries they sustained.
“And so, we’ve done no wrong as all our actions were taken in good faith and justified by, under and within the purview of the Executive Orders, which have neither been challenged nor set aside by any competent court of law.
“Therefore, while we welcome genuine criticisms directed towards strengthening our intervention measures, it is no use taking issues with uninformed critics and social media legal practitioners who, blinded and prodded by sheer politics, bias and hatred, have opted to demonised and paint our lawful and responsible actions in bad light.”
Wike expressed optimism that the lockdown has helped in containing the spread of COVID-19 in the state even if the objective of the lockdown has not been totally achieved.
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