NCDC, Dettol Disown Funke Akindele, say arrested actress not their ambassador

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Dettol Nigeria have reacted to the arrest of Funke Akindele by operatives of Lagos State Police Command for disregarding the coronavirus lockdown.

The Nollywood actress and her husband Abdul Rasheed Bello also 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.

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. In a statement posted on Twitter, Dettol Nigeria stated that it “does not condone any breach of the guidelines on Covid-19.” The company also noted that Funke Akindele is not a brand ambassador for NCDC.

 

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

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. Guardian