Lagos Police arrests 43 for violating COVID-19 protocols

The Lagos State Police Command says 43 people were arrested at a club in Victoria Island on Sunday, January 10, 2021 for violating COVID-19 safety protocols.

Hundreds of people have been arrested in similar fashion since the government vowed strict enforcement of safety protocols especially following the second wave of the novel disease kicking off in December 2020.

Over a dozen clubs in the state have been sealed for violating restrictions on the business, as well as for ignoring the 12 am to 4 am curfew.

Lagos Police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said in a statement on Monday, January 11 that the suspects were arrested at Eclipse Night Club in VI by Police operatives attached to Maroko Division.

They were arrested inside the club for clustering and clubbing without any regard for the COVID-19 protocols, according to Monday's statement.

The Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, has ordered that the suspects be prosecuted in court for the violation.

Last week, a Special Offences Court fined 65 people in Lagos the sum of N20,000 each after they pleaded guilty to one count charge of breaching the curfew order.

They were also hit with an additional one hour of community service by the mobile court.

Over 100,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Nigeria since the first case was detected in February 2020.