Sanwo-Olu commissions Eti-Osa 70-bed isolation centre

• Lagos arraigns cleric, others over alleged violation of lockdown directive
• LAWMA tasks residents on clean, liveable environment

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu yesterday commissioned a 70-bed COVID-19 Isolation and Treatment Centre located within the premises of Landmark Exhibition Centre in Eti-Osa Local Council of the state.

The isolation centre, constructed by Young President Organisation (YPO), Lagos State Chapter, has a dedicated 10-bed intensive care isolation unit, four ventilators, monitors, respirators, mobile x-ray, ultrasound and oxygen.

Sanwo-Olu, at the unveiling, said the facility would provide additional capacity to support the already existing isolation facilities in the state, adding that the birth of the facility signifies a working and fruitful collaboration between the public and the private sector.

Meanwhile, Lagos State Government has arraigned Archbishop of Resurrection Praise Chapel, popularly called ‘Jehovah Sharp-Sharp’, Samson Mustapha Benjamin and two others before a Lagos Magistrate’s Court in Igbosere for alleged violation of lockdown order in the state.

Benjamin was arraigned alongside Jerry Abel and Johnson Benjamin on a three-count charge by the Lagos State Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) before Chief Magistrate O. O. Oshin.

The trio were allegedly violating the lockdown stay-at-home directive of President Muhammad Buhari amid the pandemic Coronavirus disease.

The violators, who were arrested on Tuesday at the Chinese Embassy where they had gone to preach despite the lockdown directives, pleaded not guilty to the charges read to them.

Following their plea, their counsel, E.O. Ogbeche, pleaded with the court to admit his clients to bail in the most liberal terms, assuring the court of their presence till the matter is determined.

Chief Magistrate Oshin in her ruling on the bail application, granted the cleric bail in the sum of N1 million and admitted the two other violators to bail in the sum of N500,000 each with two sureties in like sum.

She subsequently adjourned trial in the matter to May 20, 2020.

However, the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) yesterday appealed to residents in the state to maintain cleaner and livable environment, as government puts measures in place to curtail environmental degradation and the spread of the COVID-19.

Managing Director/CEO of LAWMA, Dr. Muyiwa Gbadegesin, made this appeal yesterday during the commemoration of this year’s World Earth Day in Lagos.

Gbadegesin harped on the need for attitudinal change among residents as it relates to the environment, warning that negative environmental practices pose serious hazard, not just to the environment, but also to people that live in it.