Stay-At-Home Order Without Palliative Will Lead To Mass Hunger, DSM Warns Govt

Following the total lockdown or order occasioned by the dreaded Coronavirus pandemic in the country, the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), Osun State Chapter, said, stay at home order without palliative will lead to mass Hunger and sufferings for the working and poor people of the state

DSM posited that it was wrong to make stay-at-home order without providing palliative to ease the hardship of people.

The group in a statement jointly signed by the Chairman and Secretary, Alfred Adegoke and Kola Ibrahim, Sunday, said ‘criminalising Violators of stay-at-home order without providing palliative for people is tantamount to tyranny and oppression.

According to DSM, the lockdown will further increase mass hunger and poverty already facing the people of Osun stage.

“We condemn the failure of the government to address the immediate needs of the people in terms of survival. We also consider the new COVID19 Regulations issued by the Osun State government as window dressing if the immediate needs of providing the basic necessities to the people are not addressed. The new regulations simply criminalize flouting of the sit-at-home/lockdown order.

“While we welcome efforts at curtailing the deadly disease, we feel that without the government providing the palliatives for survival, many of the measures including lockdown and sit-at-home order policies will either fail or lead to mass hunger and suffering for the working and poor people of the state.

“There are already signs that people are finding it hard to meet basic needs, with a woman reported to have attempted suicide in Osogbo. Even those who had money could only buy fraction of what they used to buy as prices of goods went to the sky in the wake of the announcement of the lockdown.

“We call on the government to immediately make provision for supply of foodstuffs, fuel, water, and financial support to households.

“Furthermore, we call for provision of health and sanitary kits including nose masks, sanitizers, soaps, etc. for communities and households. We also call for mass testing and fumigation across the state. The so-called fumigation being done by the Osun State government is only piecemeal as it is concentrated on few areas in Osogbo township.