The Federal Capital Territory Administration has warned commercial sex workers and nightclubs operating in the city to stop violating the Coronavirus lockdown order put in place by government to curtail the spread of the deadly disease.

Chairman of the FCT Ministerial Enforcement Task Force on COVID-19 Restrictions, Ikharo Attah, handed down the warning over the weekend when the team went round Kubwa, Gwarinpa and Wuse areas of Abuja to monitor the level of compliance to the rule.

He said “The presence of the ladies of the night is a violation of the curfew because they are not on the exemption list of essential workers. Their presence made us carry out full checks on some nightclubs which are truly closed. At moments like this, we expect them to stop the unholy trade in their own interest because the men who may patronize them may be COVID-19 positive. 

“The ban on nightclubs, parks, and bars is yet to be lifted, hence the need for us to sustain routine inspection and ensure compliance. We believe that if we relax too much, with the number of positive COVID-19 cases on the rise, it would not be good for the city.”

The team shut down a bar and confiscated some of its loudspeakers, which were handed over to enforcement officials from the Abuja Environmental Protection Board.