COVID-19: Saboba Youth Block Roads As People Flee From Locked-down Areas

Some youth in Saboba have blocked all major roads leading to the town in what they believe is a proactive attempt to stop the spread of the Coronavirus to their area.

The youth, numbering about 100 blocked the roads for fear that the many indigenes who are returning from Accra and Kumasi in droves following a lockdown announcement in the two major areas, may be carriers of the virus.

They also believe that since there are no cases in the district, stopping everyone else from coming into the area will save the town from recording a case.

With today [Monday] being the market day for Saboba and many traders seeking to come into the town to trade, the youth’s action is already having some impact on trading activities.

Some people especially those in commercial buses are being denied access to Saboba.

A leader of the youth who mounted some of the roadblocks, Samuel Binchanya told Citi News that their action is to protect members of the community from contracting the virus.

“We are taking this decision as people collectively to prevent people from entering because we suspect that some people may import this into our district. You know that our health system is deficient and we will not be able to take care of this serious issue… We are preventing them from coming to work in the market at least for today and the subsequent market days, until we are all sure that the situation has died down and we can now go about our normal duties,” he said,

He added that “these are extraordinary times and we are also feeling that we need to take some extraordinary measures to curb the spread of this disease. We have sent messages to our people in Yendi not to come to market today because they will not be allowed.”

“We are blocking everyone coming from outside Saboba because we had information that they had recorded cases in Yendi and also in Tamale.”

Meanwhile joint police and military have moved in to remove the barriers.

There is currently a meeting ongoing with health directorate, the military and the youth.