Society
Lagos Assembly Moves Against Inspector General Of Police In Fight Against Coronavirus?
Eniola Ajayi
Immediately the case of Coronavirus ( Covid-19 )was established in the country, the Inpector General or Police M.A Adamu amongst efforts to reduce the spread instructed state commands that “..only very serious cases such as terrorism, armed robbery, homicide and other non-bailable offences should warrant detention”.
The Inspector General of Police’s directive was aimed at protecting the officers and detainees – and larger society- from the highly contagious disease.
Days after this, the Lagos State House of Assembly with Mudashiru Obasa as Speaker passed an emergency law that further gave legal backing to actions by Govenor Sanwo-Olu in battling the spread of Coronavirus.
Interestingly the law gave the Governor the power to counter the directive of the Inspector Gene of Police.
The Law States in part, as regards offenders of the restriction order imposed by the Lagos State Government since last week “….The bill also stipulates a fine of N100,000 for defaulters, one month imprisonment in the correctional centre..”
“I will go with the I.G on his stand about arrest and detention in this period. You to understand how the police holding facilities are managed to appreciate the need to avoid letting a possible coronavirus infected person into any of them, transferred to the officers and onto the barracks or larger society. There is no basis for the lawmakers to put in that portion empowering thee governor to arrest and detain into their law since the Inspector General of Police has spoken on how law enforcement should be conducted in this cautious period, well before their bill was passed” a source pointed out.
