How FCTA nabbed cleric, 269 vehicles over alleged COVID-19 lockdown violation

By Stanley Onyekwere

The FCT Administration’s Enforcement Team has how it arrested an Islamic clergyman, Imam Abubakar of the Wuye juma’at mosque, for allegedly contravening the prevailing COVID-19 lockdown order in the nation’s capital city.
Making this disclosure during a chat with newsmen in Abuja, Chairman of the FCTA team, Comrade Ikharo Attah, also revealed that his men impounded more than 269 vehicles from violators of the lockdown directive.
Attah, who described the violations as unfortunate, however cautioned residents, particularly uniformed personnel and diplomats against breaking this important and lifesaving law.
In his words: “Earliy this morning, we commenced operation following so many calls from residents that the Christmas Embassy Church in Durumi was preaching, we went there and discovered that that wasn’t true, but the pastor was inside the church with some cameramen and some production crew.
“We found out that they were doing their stream online but the generating set was on. That was the noise they heard that they concluded that it was a church service.
“We then proceeded to other areas around town. We got to Area 1 Roundabout, where a particular man was arrested with four military caps -he put one Army cap in his boot, then another one for Nigeria Airforce, as well as two other ones for Nigeria Navy, all in one vehicle. We took and handed him over to the FCT Commissioner of Police.
“Then we also had another case of a man whose vehicle was taken to VIO office in Area 1, and immediately he decided to strip himself naked, removed all this cloths in protest that he must work, that he did not believe in existence of coronavirus.
“We then moved to the mosque at Wuye district, because we had gotten several complaints that the man (Imam) had worship on Friday. But that Friday, we were at Kuje so we could not have come back within five minutes.
“ So we got there today and invited him to come and explain; and we cautioned him at the FCT Police Command, Garki. We will like be released and must have been further cautioned and released”, Attah explained.
It could be recalled that the first week of the lockdown, a pastor, U.U Uden (full name withheld) was equally invited to the FCT Police Command for violating the directive, where he was cautioned and later released.