NO  fewer than 50 vehicles’ tyres were deflated at the weekend, in Enugu State by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi led monitoring of the imposed nationwide curfew.

The curfew ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari, was part of the measures to contain coronavirus.

Ugwuanyi who insisted that he would not sit and watch Enugu residents flout the presidential order was accompanied by his deputy, Mrs Cecelia Ezeilo and other top government functionaries.

The governor and his team intercepted and deflated over 50 vehicles tyres belonging to deviant residents caught driving during the period of the curfew.

The enforcement team which left Enugu government house at about 8.10pm drove through major roads, Bisalla Road, old Enugu-Abakaliki Road, Trans-Ekulu, Abakpa, Emene and Independence layout among others.

As the governor personally interrogated and ordered the deflation of vehicle tyres of curfew defaulters, he kept reminding them that that the curfew was in the interest of everybody and he would not allow them to flout it.

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“I will not ask Police to arrest you or hand over your vehicle to them. I will only ask you to park and we will deflate your tyres, then you walk home. Tomorrow morning, you can look for a way of retrieving your vehicle. That’s all. But next time, I may not be this lenient”.

Ugwuanyi stated that there was no better way to contain the spread of the virus than for people to abide laid out rules for their containment in the state.   He insisted that the curfew begins at 8pm and ends at 6am daily.

Several private cars and buses tryres irrespective of the occupants except those on emergencies were deflated in the over two hours enforcement compliance exercise in the state.

Ugwuanyi, nonetheless,  expressed delight that more residents had abided the curfew order than was seen in the state the previous nights.

The governor had on Tuesday night, intercepted a trailer load of cattle with 17 men suspected to be herdsmen hidden on the floor of the vehicle when he led an enforcement team to monitor compliance with the curfew in the state.

The trailer, said to be coming from Bauchi state had beaten all security check points on the highways and made its way into the state capital around 9.30pm with men bearing different sizes of bags.