Popular Nigerian actress and producer, Funke Akindele is alleged to have been picked up by the men of the Lagos State Police Command, for social distancing violation.
The Jenifa’s Diary act was said to have been picked up on Sunday 5th April 2020, by the Police, a few hours after admitting to having violated the social distancing order put in place by the government through the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), to slow down the spread of the dreaded coronavirus.
Although there is no official statement yet from the Lagos State Police command as on this latest development on Funke Akindele, the Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos, Bala Elkana, was reported to have confirmed the arrest in a statement on Sunday. But her alleged arrest by the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba, was for mere questioning, for the social distancing violation, and nothing more.
As we reported earlier, Funke Akindele had raised eyebrows when a video of a crowded house party of herself, her husband Mr Bello who is known better as JJC some family members, and some notable Nigerian celebrities surfaced online amid social distancing order, and the fight by the NCDC and the Lagos State Government to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The video which did not go down well with some Nigerians, especially Lagosians who have been hard hit by the coronavirus, took to their social media to drag her and her husband, and also some celebrities who had joined her to celebrate the birthday of her husband. Some were even calling on NCDC to cancel her endorsement as their ambassador, and for the Police to arrest her and run a coronavirus test on everyone in the viral video.
Both Funke Akindele and her husband initially when the dragging started on Nigerian social media street, acted very unbothered by the name-calling and call for the authorities to sanction her as no one was above the law, that she even put out a tweet (which she has since taken down by her) to justify her actions, where she pointed out that they have all been together for over two weeks and nothing to be worried about.
Sensing that she could no longer take the heat, or has been counselled on how to treat such a backlash, she made a short video, where she apologized for endangering her life, that of her family, friends and Nigerians.
In the video, she spoke about how the crowd ended up at her place, speaking of how she built a studio that looks like a mini-community where she normally shoots her “Jenifa’s Diary” and other things with over a 100 staff. But not all of them were present during the birthday party on Saturday.
She also said that the guests at her husband’s birthday party and herself have been together before the lockdown was announced by President Muhammadu Buhari and they decided to stay together while also adhering to directives.
She had captioned the video with:
“I hear you all and I acknowledge all your honest feedback.
I also thank you for your concerns, well wishes and calls.
I am sorry and hope this video offers some explanation.
Please stay safe. And God bless. @lagosstategovt,” she said.