The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), has condemned the actions of the Rivers State Government for its extreme measures of demolishing hotels on 10 May, 2020 for not complying with the lockdown directive issued by the state government.

The governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, who supervised the demolition of Prodest Hotel, Eleme, and Edemete Hotel, Onne, said some of the confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the state were traceable to hotels, hence the order for hotels to shut down operations across the state.

SERAP, however, in its reaction to the incident said the demolition was a ‘violation of article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and other human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a state party’.

The group posted a tweet on its Twitter page that read, ‘We condemn the reported demolition of Prodest Hotel by [Governor] Wike [in] Rivers State. Using [Covid-19] to perpetrate human rights violations is executive rascality, and Mr Wike must stop this now’.

In light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, it has also been reported that Governor Wike has taken some controversial decisions in the fight against Covid-19, such as the arrest of oil workers accused of entering the state in violation of the lockdown directives.

Governor Wike has said that the lives of Rivers State citizens must be valued above businesses and that he is ready to persecute any business or organisation that does not comply with the state’s directives to enable its fight against Covid-19.

Source: Premium Times

Photo source: Edu