Security agencies in Port Harcourt on Thursday arrested seven women who were stowed away in a container truck.
The women who came in from Ihiala in Anambra State were arrested alongside the driver of the truck and his conductor for violating the extant executive order restricting movement into the state as well as the executive order on COVID-19 regulation in the state.
Security operatives on routine patrol intercepted the truck around the Eliozu area of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area when they discovered the women stowed away in the container.
The driver, his conductor, and the seven women were immediately arrested for violating the executive order restricting movement into the state following the outbreak of Coronavirus as well the executive order on COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Professor Princewill Chike, said the situation where people are smuggled in or allowed to come into the state unscreened, poses a serious threat to the well being of the state.
The truck driver, John Chijoke, who claimed he was not aware of the lockdown in Rivers State, said he only offered the women a ride out of pity.
While the Ministry of Health is working on ascertaining their Coronavirus status, the truck driver, his conductor, and the seven women are to be arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt.
