Nigeria bans airline for flying Naira Marley to Abuja for concert

Nigeria bans airline for flying Naira Marley to Abuja for concert

The Nigerian Government on Monday suspended the operations of ExecuJet, the airline that flew Afro-pop artist Naira Marley to Abuja for a concert, indefinitely.

Nigeria's aviation minister Hadi Sirika announced the indefinite ban during the daily briefing on the presidential task force on COVID-19 on Monday,

Sirika said the flight that conveyed Naira Marley to Abuja for the concert was approved to convey a serving justice from Lagos to Abuja.

The minister stated that the flight captain will be sanctioned for providing false information.

"Going forward we will escalate the mechanisms we have in place, and we will be stricter in our approvals (and enforcement)," Sirika said.

The flight violated the order of the Nigerian Government to temporarily suspend all commercial flights to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The Federal Capital Territory Ministerial Enforcement Task Force on COVID-19 Restrictions on Sunday sealed the venue of the concert - Jabi Lake Mall - indefinitely for violating the government's ban on public gathering.

The government has been silent about Naira Marley, who not only flouted the ban on interstate travel, the concert he performed at also violated the guidelines on social distancing.

It is however not the first time Naira Marley will be involved in such incidents since the Nigerian Government declared a total lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus.

He was arrested for violating lockdown orders in April when he alongside other artists attended a house party organised by actress, Funke Akindele, and her husband Abdul Rasheed Bello.

He was later released after tendering a written apology to the Lagos State Government and signing an undertaking to subsequently comply with the government directives.

Comments

Keep up to date with our latest articles and uploads...