•Says security agents should enforce lockdown without favours
Wife of President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, Aisha on Friday cried out that her staff were being detained by the police.
She did not state the reason for the detention of the aides nor the identities of the detainees.
The development came amidst reports that some of the First Lady’s aides had been arrested on the orders of a Personal Assistant to the President.
The Personal Assistant, according to SaharaReporters, was said to have travelled to Lagos in violation of President Buhari’s subsisting order stopping inter-state movements because of COVID-19.
Mrs Buhari’s security aides were said to have asked him to self-quarantine for 14 days before he could be allowed back into the Villa, a demand that reportedly led to the disagreement, which led to the arrest of the aides of the First Lady.
In series of tweets released at 7.11pm on Friday, Mrs Buhari asked the Inspector General of Police not to endanger the lives of her aides by exposing them to COVID-19 in detention.
Her words: “That COVID-19 is real and still very much around in our nation is not in doubt. Consequently, I call on all relevant government agencies to enforce the Quarantine Act signed by Mr. President and ensure no one is found violating this law and the NCDC guidelines especially on interstate travel without the necessary exemptions for movement of essentials.
“Anyone who does that should at the very least be made to undergo a 14-day mandatory isolation no matter who the person is, no one should be above the law and the Police command will do well to remember that.
“Finally, I call on the IGP to release my assigned Staff who are still in the custody of the Police to avoid putting their lives in danger or exposure to COVID-19 while in their custody.”
However, efforts to get official reaction on the allegation from the Force Headquarters, Abuja, were unsuccessful.
Calls put through to the mobile lines of the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, were not answered.
