A man, Femi Adeoye, said to be a retired personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps, has abandoned his son at the testing centre for Coronavirus Disease of the Ekiti State Government at Adekunle Fajuyi Pavilion, Ado Ekiti.
The video surfaced on social media on Wednesday.
Adeoye, who, apparently, was called via telephone to attend to his son after he got to the pavilion, told the man who recorded the video, later identified as one of the security men at the centre, that he was not going to go home with him because he flouted his order for him to remain in Lagos, where he was initially, until the COVID-19 spread died down.
However, the son, who said he paid over N12,000 for the tortuous journey from Lagos to Ado-Ekiti, did not abide by the instruction.
The son said because he could not get a straight vehicle from Lagos to Ado-Ekiti, he had to pass through Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, for the journey, hence had to pay much more for the journey that should have cost a maximum of N4,000.
Adeoye urged the authorities to keep the young man in isolation so he does not spread the virus to the state like a pregnant woman did when she left Lagos State for Ekiti State.
The pregnant woman, who died after a Caesarean Section, infected some other people, including the Doctor that attended to her.
The Ekiti State government has reacted to the development.
It said in a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Value Orientation, Muyiwa Olumilua, that the state government staff who filmed the drama between the father and son acted unprofessionally.
Olumilua said: “The attention of the Ekiti State COVID-19 Task force has been drawn to a video clip in circulation where a man refused to allow his son, who just returned from a trip outside the state, into his house until he had been isolated for 14 days as stipulated by NCDC protocol for preventing community spread of COVID-19 in Ekiti State.
“The Task force commends Mr Femi Adeoye, for refusing to cover-up his son’s travel history and for denying him access into the house without confirming his COVID-19 status.
“Mr Adeoye epitomizes the Ekiti ethos of selflessness, which places greater premium on the collective good of the society above personal and emotional considerations. This is the core of the Values Orientation policy of the Fayemi-led Administration.
“We also consider it necessary to inform members of the public that the video was recorded four days ago, by one of the security men attached to the Fajuyi Pavilion, where the Enforcement Task force uses as its base for coordination of daily operations.
“The security man who recorded the encounter is neither a health worker, nor qualified or authorized to determine the health status of the young man. So, none of his actions or misstatements reflect the capacity or preparedness of the State Task force to combat the COVID-19 virus. The officer in question has been suspended pending further investigations, for acting outside the jurisdiction of his scope of authority.
“Following the encounter, the young man has been in custody of the state for the past four days, and has since been take to one of the designated quarantine centres, where he would be for 14 days, in line with laid down procedure that dictates that anyone who sneaks into the state, would be quarantined four fourteen (14) days, at their own cost. His samples will also be taken for testing in order to ensure he has not been infected in the course of his travels to high incidence areas of the country.
“We implore members of the public to emulate the patriotic zeal of Mr Adeoye, and promptly report to the Ekiti State COVID-19 Taskforce, any out-of-state traveller who sneaks into their neighbourhood, or places of abode. This is to safeguard against the likely health hazard that such returnees portend for the larger society.”
