The Lagos government, on Wednesday, warned residents of the state to suits all restriction measures imposed by the authorities to curb the spread of the coronavirus amid the second wave of the pandemic.
It said Lagosians who violate the 12 am to 4 am curfew imposed by the federal and other protocols would be fined up to N500,000 when caught.
The government stressed that each one church within the state must respect the curfew in situ and avoid physical crossover services and enormous gatherings on New Year’s Eve, 2020.
Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, stated this in an interview with The NAIJASET on Wednesday.
He said, “If you flout any of those rules, you’ll be fined. you’ll be taken to court and therefore the magistrate will choose the sanction. The fine is often between N20,000 and N500,000. It depends on the magistrate’s discretion.
“But it’s not almost punishing people. People are being advised to require responsibility. The regulations were unrolled as an advisory and other people are obeying while people that have disobeyed have faced the results .”
The commissioner, however, expressed optimism that religious leaders within the state would suit the directive of the govt on the crossover services.
Omotoso said, “With what we’ve been seeing, I don’t think churches will flout the protocols. CAN (Christian Association of Nigeria) agrees with the govt. Covid cases are rising and everybody is worried. a number of the enormous churches have also announced that they won’t be holding physical crossover services.
“The Lagos government has also told them that there’s a curfew by midnight to 4 am imposed by the federal. Many of the churches are adjusting their programs. Churches are well-organized and that we believe they’re going to comply.”
Furthermore, the Director-General of the Lagos State Safety Commission, Lanre Majola, said the commission would be working with men of the Lagos State Police Command to enforce all restrictions announced by the govt, especially during the New Year period.
Mojola, who also spoke with The NAIJASET on Wednesday, said the commission wouldn’t wait till the night of New Year’s Eve, 2020, to swing to action.
“We aren’t waiting till tomorrow (Thursday). there’s an ‘Operation No Tolerance’ and that we have had a gathering with the Lagos State Environmental and Special Offences Task Force and Governor’s Monitoring Team. we’ll start patrolling tonight and therefore the patrol is going to be two-ways – we’ll start warning people to watch the curfew and after the curfew, we’ll then start clampdown.
“For the churches, Mr. Governor has made it very clear that there should be no crossover services. there’s already an advisory from CAN that the churches should close very early by 11 pm and that they can join virtually into the New Year.
“Enforcement goes to get on another level this era. We are working very seriously with the police on this,” he said.
The director-general also urged well-meaning Lagosians to alert the commission of any contravention by churches within the state.
“Our men are going to be on the road patrolling the streets and these locations and if people find these places, they will always call us and that we will send operatives there to enforce the protocols,” he stated.
Lagos, which is one of the epicenters of coronavirus management in Nigeria, has recorded over 26,000 infections and quite 200 associated deaths since the outbreak of the virus within the country.
Leave a Reply