At least 40 young persons have been arrested in Ondo State for allegedly flouting the social distancing order and disturbing public peace.
The state’s Special Task Force on COVID-19 arrested the youth during a tour to monitor the compliance rate of residents within the state capital, Akure.
The offenders, who were arrested in a hotel in the Isolo area of Akure South Local Council, were immediately handed over to the police for prosecution.
It was gathered that several of those arrested were allegedly having fun at the hotel while others were apprehended for smoking Indian hemp around the vicinity of the hotel.
A news media also learnt that some others took to the heels upon sighting the task force team in the area.
Specimen of the arrested youth were afterwards collected by officials of the state’s Ministry of Health to ascertain their COVID-19 status.
Chairman of the state’s COVID-19 Compliance Committee, Doyin Odebowale, who disclosed the arrest of the offenders in Akure, said they have been handed over to the police for prosecution.
Odebowale explained that the hotel had already been shut down.
He said, "They (youths) were clustering themselves in the hotel against the ban on social gathering by government and some of them were sighted smoking Indian hemp openly.
"In fact, some of them attacked our team by throwing stones upon sighting us while others scaled the fence to escape being arrested.
"We arrested them following the complaints from people living close to the hotel that the youth have constituting nuisance in their environment.”
Spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, Mr Tee-Leo Ikoro, confirmed the arrest of the youth.
He said the youth were operating in defiance to the curfew order and would be charged to court to serve as deterrents to others in the state.