The 65 persons the Police arrested in Jalingo, Taraba on Friday disclosed that they were travelling to their home State, Adamawa, after they lost their jobs at the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown in Ogun State.
The Taraba State Police spokesman, Mr. David Misal had told journalists that they had, on a tip-off, intercepted and arrested the men for defying the lockdown order and travelling interstate from Ogun in the Southwest to Taraba in the Northeast.
He said “We got the information that some young persons in their numbers entered Jalingo despite the ban on interstate travel by the state government.
“We quickly rushed there and found 65 persons. The truck driver who brought them was said to have turned back.
However, one of them, who identified himself as Mr. Yelemi Jocab, said they were all staff of an Ogun State based company and that they were stranded after the trailer driver taking them back home to Adamawa got to Jalingo and turned back, refusing to go any further.
He further said that they had to leave Ogun State because they became stranded after the company shut down.
He narrated, “We are staff of Goodwill Ceramic and Tiles Company in Igbesa, Ogun State, and we are travelling to our state, Adamawa.
“The company shut down three weeks ago, and nobody told us until last week when we were asked to resign and come back if we want, when the company reopens.
“All the over 3000 of us working with the company have been laid off. We then became stranded and decided to find a way back home.
“We boarded a trailer and the driver stopped here and turned back.
Investigations by The Interview revealed that there is, indeed, a company called Goodwill Ceramic and Tiles in Ogun State.
The company which is owned by the Chinese was said to be the biggest in Africa as at the time it was about to open for business in 2012.
However, a call made to a number found on their Facebook page on Sunday evening to confirm if they had indeed sacked their 3000 workers was not answered.
Meanwhile, the arrested travelers, the police say, have been handed over to the Taraba State ministry of health.
“We have already informed the state government considering what is happening in the country now that the travellers have been handed over to the state’s ministry of health,” Misal said.
