Dettol Nigeria and Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have reacted to the arrest of Nollywood ace actress, Funke Akindele by operatives of Lagos State Police Command for contravening coronavirus social distancing.
In a statement posted on Twitter on Monday, Dettol Nigeria stated that it “does not condone any breach of the guidelines on Covid-19.” The company also said that Funke Akindele is not a brand ambassador for NCDC.
“We have been made aware through social media that Funke Akindele recently, acting in her personal capacity, had a celebration which is against the caution to the public on social distancing during the covid-19 pandemic.
“The NCDC partnered with Dettol on a public service message to educate our communities about preventive measures against COVID-19. Funke is not a brand ambassador of the NCDC.
“As a responsible organization and brand Dettol does not condone any breach of the guidelines on Covid-19. As an organization, we are concerned at the turn of events.
“We will continue to support NCDC and the Nigerian govt to fight COVID-19”
This is coming weeks after Akindele had emphasised the need for proper hygiene as well as social distancing in a coronavirus video campaign sponsored by Dettol Nigeria.
The NCDC partnered with Dettol on a public service message to educate our communities about preventive measures against COVID-19. Funke is not a brand ambassador of the NCDC.— DettolNigeria (@DettolNigeria) April 5, 2020
The actress and her husband Abdul Rasheed Bello popularly known as JJC Skillz had hosted a birthday party at their home in Ibeju-Lekki on Saturday, 4th of April, 2020.
The party which had a large number of people in attendance, as well as celebrities, was contrary to social distancing measure which the NCDC advised Nigerians to maintain in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control in its response quoted Dettol Nigeria’s tweet and stated that it has not engaged brand ambassadors as part of its approach against coronavirus. The agency maintained that all Nigerians should practise social distance in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
“As an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria, NCDC has not engaged brand ambassadors as part of our response to #COVID19.
“We continue to emphasise that all Nigerians maintain #socialdistancing to prevent the spread of #COVID19 #StayHomeStaySafe”