Topic: What should be the punishment for maskup failure to comply? On the easing of covid-19 lockdown in Nigeria wearing of a facemask in public places has become compulsory?


Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently proclaimed the wearing of a facemasks compulsory in Lagos state.
His Ogun state counterpart Governor Dapo Abiodun has said it will begin enforcing the wearing of face masks as from May 1, 2020.
While making this brief he stated the punishment for those who will disobey this law that violators risked being arrested or even isolated for 14 days.
In his words “On the issue of violation of face mask order, I think maybe by the time we are going to implement this face mask order, I will be able to reel out what the punishment of the violators would be; But rest assured that we will arrest you if you don’t wear a face mask. In fact when we arrest you, we take you to an isolation center because we will believe that you want to intentionally inflict or afflict someone with COVID-19. That’s why you are not wearing your face mask. So, we will isolate you for 14 days during which we make you do community service”.
When we reached out to the public to air their views we were met with mix reactions;
Mr Abiodun is of the opinion that community service will be more appropriate saying that the government should perhaps provide free facemasks for the citizens since they were unable to provide adequately the necessary palliatives to reduce the hardship caused be the lockdown
Mrs Folashade Oduntan says
Failure to wear a mask is not a criminal offense and as such should not be treated like one. In her words ” Failure to wear a facemask has not be declared as a crime as a result enforcement will be very difficult. You cannot punish people for what has not been declared a crime. So for me I don’t think there should be any punishment. She speaks further that it is best for government to continue to educate the people on the importance of them wearing a facemask each time they go out. In her words it is for their own good and safety.
While Mrs. Oshikanminu feels that there is no need for any actual criminal consequences for those who choose to ignore the facemask order, however she encouraged that businesses to stop customers from transacting any form of business inside their stores without wearing a face mask as she relays her recent experience in computer village Ikeja that before you are allowed entrance into computer village, you must have your facemask on and wash your hands thoroughly in fact the securities are so mean if you fail to comply just forget about it; You will repeat your journey the next day.
Mr. Chinedu Opara suggested that 14 days isolation with community service is the appropriate punishment
Ms. Grace Funmilayo is of the opinion that a fifty thousand naira fine should be the punishment for failure to comply to the maskup order stating that people are definitely going to comply. Hear her ”if there is a fine, you will see Nigerians will obey. Even if they don’t pay up to fifty thousand, pay five thousand naira two times haba! They will go and buy facemask”
With the relaxation on lockdown restrictions at some places across the state and Covid-19 positive cases in the increase. With more shops opening soon under new guidelines, more people will be going out in public about their daily activity. However, majority of the people are still reluctant to wear masks. We trust that the government and all the law enforcement bodies will see to it and do whatever it takes to ensure full compliance to staying safe.

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