Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, has assured Nigerians that she will practice what she preaches, after her arrest by the Lagos State Police Command for hosting a house party amid COVID-19 lockdown.

She defended her actions by saying that Naira Marley had been living at her residence before the lockdown was announced by the federal Government.

She also pledged to support the government in creating more awareness in an effort to combat the deadly virus in the country.

Akindele stated this in another video she shared on Twitter and Instagram a few hours before she was arrested on Sunday, April 5th, 2020.

Recall that Flavision reported that Akindele was arrested by men of the Lagos State Police Command, for hosting a house party that defied the lockdown order of the Federal Government.

She was arrested at her home in Amen Estate, off the Lekki-Epe Expressway to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba.

In the second video before her arrest, she apologised to her fans for not practicing what she preached during the COVID-19 stay-at-home order.

She said,

I have seen all the messages on Social Media. I will not intentionally mislead people.

It was my husband’s birthday (on Saturday). Both of us run a studio which is located in Amen Estate where we live.

When the pandemic started, we stopped all productions including our new projects.

But before the lockdown was announced by our President, some youths have been in the boot camp here in Amen Estate – majority of the youths were those you saw in the video.

Naira Marley came in here before the lockdown. And when the lockdown was announced, he said he would love to stay back, saying he loves this environment.

I said okay fine. Then my husband’s birthday came up. And we all came together as a family.

Everybody in that video had been in Amen Estate some months before, weeks before and days before the lockdown. Nobody came from their houses to party with us.

I am sorry if I have misled you. I appreciate your concerns and I promise to always practice what I preach.

I promise to always support the government in creating more awareness to eradicate this pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), shortly after the actress’ arrest, said Akindele was not its brand ambassador.

Akindele had recently appeared in COVID-19 social distancing advisory videos for the NCDC and Dettol, urging Nigerians to adhere to social distancing and good hygiene practice, as part of measures to eradicate the spread of coronavirus disease in Nigeria.

In a related development, the Lagos State Police Command has ordered Akindele’s husband, Abdulrasheed Bello, aka JJC Skillz; and singer, Azeez Fashola, aka Naira Marley who were at the party, to report to the State CID, Panti, Yaba on Monday, April 6th, 2020 or risk being declared wanted.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.