Not less than 18 people suspected to be commercial sex workers and their customers were arrested by the Ondo State Task Force on COVID-19 while monitoring the compliance rate within the state capital.
The people were said to have flouted the order of the state government on the dusk-to-dawn curfew order imposed by the Ondo State Government.
The suspects who were arrested at a brothel in Shasha area, in Akure North Local Government Area of the state at about 10:30 pm had their specimens collected by the Ministry of Health officials to ascertain their COVID-19 status.
It was gathered that the commercial sex workers who were said to be in their twenties and early thirties were having a swell time at the brothel as at the time they were arrested.
Speaking on the development, the chairman of the state COVID-19 Compliance Committee, Dr Doyin Odebowale, disclosed that the brothel had been shut indefinitely.
Odebowale warned residents against breaking the curfew order, saying any offender caught would be brought before the law.
He said, “They were operating in defiance to the curfew order. We caught them operating in total disregard to the curfew order. There was no social distancing of any kind.
“So, we had to quickly bring in the medical team led by the state epidemiologist, Dr Fagbemi, to take their samples and ascertain their status.
“The brothel has been shut on the orders of the governor and the owner has been invited for further questioning.”
The state epidemiologist, Dr Stephen Fagbemi, while speaking said the suspects were being profiled so that they don’t constitute danger to other residents.
“They have been together and they are in a high-risk situation. You can see what is happening in the state and throughout the country at present.
“The cases are increasing. We need to be at alert and we need to test as many people as possible so that all of us can be safe.”
It would be recalled that the state governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu on April 14, 2020, declared a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state as part of measures to contain the spread the deadly COVID-19.
The people were said to have flouted the order of the state government on the dusk-to-dawn curfew order imposed by the Ondo State Government.
The suspects who were arrested at a brothel in Shasha area, in Akure North Local Government Area of the state at about 10:30 pm had their specimens collected by the Ministry of Health officials to ascertain their COVID-19 status.
It was gathered that the commercial sex workers who were said to be in their twenties and early thirties were having a swell time at the brothel as at the time they were arrested.
Speaking on the development, the chairman of the state COVID-19 Compliance Committee, Dr Doyin Odebowale, disclosed that the brothel had been shut indefinitely.
Odebowale warned residents against breaking the curfew order, saying any offender caught would be brought before the law.
He said, “They were operating in defiance to the curfew order. We caught them operating in total disregard to the curfew order. There was no social distancing of any kind.
“So, we had to quickly bring in the medical team led by the state epidemiologist, Dr Fagbemi, to take their samples and ascertain their status.
“The brothel has been shut on the orders of the governor and the owner has been invited for further questioning.”
The state epidemiologist, Dr Stephen Fagbemi, while speaking said the suspects were being profiled so that they don’t constitute danger to other residents.
“They have been together and they are in a high-risk situation. You can see what is happening in the state and throughout the country at present.
“The cases are increasing. We need to be at alert and we need to test as many people as possible so that all of us can be safe.”
It would be recalled that the state governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu on April 14, 2020, declared a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state as part of measures to contain the spread the deadly COVID-19.
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