The Rivers State Government says the demolished hotels in the State flouted Rivers State Government Executive Order 6.
This was contained in a statement on Sunday by the Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu.
Governor Nyesom Wike who personally supervised the demolition of the structures in company with some government officials on Sunday, told journalists that the law must be obeyed, hence the decision to enforce it.
“We said no hotel should operate within this period. Unfortunately, the PDP Youth Leader in Eleme joined others to flout the Executive Order. Therefore, the executive order will be applied.
“Government has no alternative but to apply the Executive order which I signed before the lockdown of Obio/Akpor and Port Harcourt. I called all the Traditional Rulers and Council Chairmen and told them to ensure that no hotel operates in the State.
“We are not saying it will be forever. This is for now so that we know where we are. To reduce the cases and check the spread.
“Whether you are PDP or not, all we are saying is that nobody is above the law. If we can do this to a PDP person, then you know we are not discriminatory. Everyone must obey. Whether you are in the PDP, SDP or no party, you must obey the law. If any other person does the same thing, the same rule will apply.
“We said if any hotel operates, the government will bring down that hotel. We are doing what we have told people that we are going to do.
“Nobody wants to obey any rules. We are saying just for now, keep off, let us see how we can keep our people safe.
“Look at the rate of infections, most of these people are found in hotels. Look at the man that died, he was at Mingi Hotel in Rumumasi. Due to that contact, we have had other seven cases.
“People should help us and support the Government for Rivers people to be safe. The Security Council will meet to review the strategies and achievements or setbacks, moving forward.
“All we are doing is to protect our people. Some people may not like our strategies, but our objective is to achieve results. ”
The affected hotels are Prudent Hotel in Alode and Etemeteh Hotel in Onne – both in Eleme Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
