Naira Marley and his manager plead guilty to violating lockdown order

Controversial pop star Azeez Fashola, popularly known by stage name Naira Marley, and his manager, Seyi Awouga, have pleaded guilty to violating a COVID-19 lockdown order in Lagos.

According to a police statement on Thursday, they were “awarded a fine of one hundred thousand naira each by the presiding Magistrate.”

Naira Marley had embarked on a non-essential trip from Lagos to Abuja for a concert in June amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He travelled from “Lagos to Abuja and back to Lagos the same date, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja for a musical concert in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja,” the police statement, signed by spokesman Bala Elkana, said.

The police said Naira Marley was charged to the Lagos State Special Offences (Mobile) Court, Oshodi under “the order made by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Regulation 4(i) of the Lagos State Infectious Disease Emergency Prevention) Regulation No 2 of 2020 and committed an offence punishable under Section 58 Public Health Law, Ch. P16, Laws of Lagos State 2015.”

On April 9, Naira Marley signed an undertaking to join the Lagos state government’s campaign against the spread of COVID-19 after he was charged for breaching the state’s social distancing directive