FCT seals hotel for operating night club

Missouri hotel, located in the Maitama District of Abuja, has been sealed off on the orders of a mobile court on Monday.

This is for allegedly operating a nightclub during the curfew hours. The action, the court said, was in contravention of the COVID-19 protocols.

Handing down the order on Monday, Magistrate Idayat Akanni, directed that the hotel should be sealed for one week.

The court also sentenced 11 defaulters to three-day community service with an option of N5, 000 fine each.

We gathered that six of the defaulters are workers of the hotel, who were apprehended by the COVID-19 enforcement team for opening up their business within the curfew hours of 10pm to 6am within the FCT.

Five fun-seekers found on the premises were arrested for partaking in the social gathering, which according to the court constituted nightclub activities.

Speaking with newsmen, the prosecutor, Udeme Umanah, who is also the Chief State Counsel for the FCT, said the defaulters were convicted for operating a nightclub.

Chairman of the FCT Ministerial Task Force on COVID-19 restrictions, Ikharo Attah, who led his team to enforce the court order, said the arrest and trial of the defaulters followed the complaints from the residents of the area.

Attah said that security personnel visited the premises and discovered that the activities there were in contravention of COVID-19 guidelines, adding that the defaulters were arrested on Sunday.

He said,

“The hotel has been sealed up pending when the court decides otherwise in the next one week; until then, the place is to remain under lock and key.”