COVID-19: FCTA vows to deal with persons faking exemption permits

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) COVID-19 enforcement team has vowed to deal with anyone arrested with a forged exemption permit.

Speaking with journalists in Abuja, the task team Chairman, Ikharo Attah, decried the alarming rate at which residents forge exemption permits, just for the purpose of moving around in defiance to the lockdown order.

While noting that many people who cloned the permits have been arrested, he stressed that the administration have concluded plans to prosecute the culprits.

Attah, said that the most annoying aspect of the situation, is the fact that many people caught with the cloned permits were not on any essential duty.

While he warned that people should desist from the fraudulent act, he reaffirmed that anyone found with fake and cloned exemption permits will be arrested to face the full wrath of the law.

According to him, the remaining days of the lockdown in FCT will be very tough for violators, as the security agencies have created a synergy for effective show of force.

“We are really having a tough time here; what we are seeing here is very annoying. The rate at which people are coming out with fake pass tags is very much alarming. We have arrested so many of them who photocopied and laminated the fake permits.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: NCDC to test 2,000 samples daily in Lagos

“We are moving them to the office of FCT police commissioner. It is even more annoying knowing that many of the people you see in the long traffic here are not in any essential service. They just fake the tags to be moving around instead of staying at home.

“In the coming days, it is going to be very tough, seeing what the commissioner and his men have done. With the support of the military, it is going to be a total show of force.

“If you look at the curve of COVID 19, FCT’s curve is going down, which means that we are working hard here and we need to keep it that way, so that we can reopen the city.

“These people with the forged permits are going to face the full wrath of the law. Those who are not on any essential duty should stay at home,” said Attah.