The Rivers State Government says the manager of Prodest Hotel, Eleme, one of the two recently demolished in the state, has tested positive for COVID-19.
Commissioner for Information in the state, Paulinus Nsirim made the disclosure Sunday evening while giving an update on COVID-19 in the state.
He said a total of 27 new cases of the virus have been reported in Rivers, including the manager of the hotel.
Nsirim said the state government’s proactive decision to demolish the hotel has been justified by the new development.
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The commissioner recalled that, “Prodest Hotel was demolished two weeks ago because the owners violated Executive Order 7 which banned the operation of hotels.
“The COVID-19 Taskforce members from the Local Government who went to enforce the Executive Order were brutalised and dehumanised leading to the death of one of them.”
The State Governor, Nyesom Wike had said he placed N5 million bounty on a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Youth Leader in the area for allegedly orchestrating the attack.
“Apart from using the facility (hotel) to jeopardizs lives of citizens in violation of the extant law, the owner audaciously unleashed thugs led by Eleme LG Youth Leader of PDP and inflicted severe injuries on our task-force members who went to enforce the law against continued operation of the hotel,” the Rivers governor had stated.