TheCable

BY DARLIGNTON ETIM

The Rivers state government says its decision to arrest two pilots of Caverton Helicopters was based on their flouting the executive order issued by the state government on lockdown measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

On March 25, 2020, Rivers state had declared a lockdown to limit the spread of coronavirus in the state.

However, the pilots who arrived in the state when the lockdown was in place, were arrested, detained and charged to court on April 7, 2020, over allegations of illegal flight operations. The court ordered that they be remanded till May 19.

At a media briefing on April 8, Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, had condemned the arrest, and accused the security operatives involved in the detention of the pilots of displaying “dangerous ignorance”.

The minister had insisted that Caverton Helicopters was exempted from lockdown directives and as such, the state government should not have ordered their arrest.

However, in a statement issued by Paulinus Nsirim, the commissioner for information and communication, clarified the government’s position on the arrest.

“At the last count, Caverton Helicopters ferried over 220 passengers into the State without allowing health professionals of the Rivers State Government ascertain their coronavirus status. They also refused to avail the State Government their contacts, so they can be traced and tested,” he said.

“Before their arrests, the Rivers State Government issued several warnings to Caverton and other operators to ensure that their pilots and passengers are tested by Rivers State health authorities. Caverton Helicopters disregarded the warnings.

“Contrary to the view being peddled by the Minister of Aviation, Alhaji Hadi Sirika, the two pilots of Caverton Helicopters and their 10 passengers were not arrested because they operated a permit granted them by the Ministry of Aviation.

“They were arrested because they constantly contravened the Executive Order issued by the Governor of Rivers State, His Excellency, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, which requires that everyone coming into the state for essential duties subject themselves to mandatory health checks to ascertain their coronavirus status.”

He added that the state government was more concerned about the safety of its people rather than struggle to grant permits to airlines.

“We are not struggling to issue landing permits to airlines, neither are we contending for the control of the air space. Therefore, the issue on ground has nothing to do with the Exclusive List,” he said.

“The focus of the Rivers State Government is to ensure that nobody under the guise of transporting workers on essential services, ferry in persons who will compromise our health system. Therefore, these pilots and passengers must be subjected to health checks before they carry out their responsibilities. That is standard practice.”

Nigeria has recorded 318 COVID-19 cases so far. Of that figure, two have been confirmed in Rivers state.