Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, on Friday organised a political meeting in Agege in violation of the coronavirus (COVID-19) Health Protection Regulations 2021 Act recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari had in January signed the law in the exercise of his powers under Section 4 of the Quarantine Act.
Section 34 of the new law states that any offence under the regulation is punishable by a fine or a term of six months imprisonment or both.
The law provides for the maintenance of physical distance in gatherings, while all persons in such public places must, among other things, wear face masks, wash their hands, and have their temperature checked before entering such venues.
It also restricts the gathering of more than 50 persons in an enclosed space “except for religious purposes, in which case the gathering shall not exceed 50% capacity of the space”.
However, Obasa and his supporters violated the law and several COVID-19 protocols on Friday during the political he organised.
The rally was allegedly attended by over 2,000 All Progressives Congress members.
A video seen by SaharaReporters shows Obasa amid people not observing social distancing as stipulated by the law.
The majority of those in the rally were also seen without face masks.
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This comes barely six days after the Lagos State Police Command arrested about 40 protesters at the Lekki toll gate for allegedly disregarding the COVID-19 protocols, especially regarding social distancing and the use of face masks.
One of those arrested was comedian, Debo Adebayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni. Some others were Juwon Sanyaolu, Damilare Adenola, and Dabira Ayuku.
They were tortured and later arraigned before a mobile court in Yaba for conspiracy, conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace, and violation of COVID-19 protocols.
However, a SaharaReporters’ journalist at the toll plaza observed that the protesters arrested conducted themselves peacefully and observed COVID-19 protocols.
In April 2020, the police arrested popular Nollywood star, Funke Akindele-Bello, and her husband, Abdul Rasheed, for violating the lockdown ordered by the government to stop the further spread of the pandemic in the country.
Also, the police in Lagos had in the last few months raided different nightclubs, arresting fun seekers for allegedly flouting the COVID-19 protocols.
