The Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mustapha Dandaura, has said the command has arrested the pilot and co-pilot of Caverton Helicopters who ferried unknown passengers to the state.
Dandaura, who spoke when the state governor, Nyesom Wike, visited the state Police command in Port Harcourt on Tuesday to ascertain the identity of the suspects, said the pilots violated the regulations regarding the safety of the state.
He said: “Recall that when this coronavirus issues started, there was ban of local flights from coming into the State. Since that time, we have been monitoring the activities of these private airlines.
“To our surprise, we received an intelligence report that an aircraft has landed at the Airforce base and that it was carrying some passengers.
“We have apprehended the Pilot and the Co-pilot through the NAF commander; that’s why they alerted the chief executive Governor of the state who had given an order that on no account should any aircraft land on Rivers State without clearance.
“We don’t know the people they brought; whether they are positive or negative of the coronavirus; where they are heading to and where they came from.”
He commended Governor Wike for his commitment to the protection of Rivers people.
Earlier, Governor Wike said that he is willing to set aside his immunity to testify against persons who violate the state’s border closure regulations aimed at preventing the spread of the COVID-19.
“I am willing to drop my immunity as a governor as far as this case is concerned. I am ready to be a prosecution witness,” the governor said.
He charged the police to prosecute the matter to its logical conclusion to serve as deterrent to those who may attempt violating the state government’s order on COVID-19.
“I want to say this is a serious matter to us and police should handle it seriously. That’s why I am here at the state command to show the seriousness of this issue.
“Nobody says that you can’t go to any state but now we are in a war situation. This COVID-19 is even worse than a conventional war. We want to know who are those people you brought in, so that we can trace them to know their identity and status. Luckily, we have seen the pilot and the Co-pilot. They will assist the police to assist in identifying them,” he added.
Governor Wike reiterated that though the State Government has no power to close airports, it has the right to check those coming into the state in order to ascertain their COVID-19 status.
He wondered why Caverton Helicopters decided to cut corners when the State Government outlined the procedure for flying expatriates from Lagos into the state.
When contacted, the management of Caverton Helicopters weren’t reachable for official comment on the incident.
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