Some Lagos lawyers, on Friday, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for signing the regulation to check the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by making wearing of facemasks compulsory in public.
The lawyers, however, faulted certain aspects of the law, which stipulate jail term for offenders, arguing that fine would have been appropriate just like what Lagos State did in promulgating similar law.
They said without the regulation, it would have been difficult to sanction defaulters.
President Buhari had on January 28 signed COVID-19 Health Protection Regulations 2021, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by Section 4 of the Quarantine Act, 2010.
The President, however, made wearing of facemasks compulsory with the new order that anyone found in default is liable to pay fine or face a jail term of six months.
Reacting to the new order, Mr. Chibuikem Opara, a lawyer at Justification Law Firm, Ikeja, commended the President for putting the health and lives of Nigerians at the forefront of his agenda.
Opara said with the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and the nonchalant attitude of the citizens towards keeping safe in the pandemic, the order will compel many people to adhere to the safety protocols.
“It is indeed a step in the right direction. One of the cardinal responsibilities of government is to safeguard the health of its citizens.
“If the step was not taken, it will be unlawful to sanction any defaulter.
“However, it is one thing to have an avalanche of laws while enforcement is a different thing all together,” Opara said.
In his own view, Mr. Chris Ayiyi, the principal partner of Ayiyi Chambers, Apapa, Lagos, said sanctioning COVID-19 safety protocols defaulters is a welcome development.
“However, the law makers should have borrowed a leaf from Lagos State laws that stipulate fine rather than a jail term, owing to the fact that our justice system is slow in reaching a just and fair hearing process.
“What we are looking for is a system for community control. Also public place is vague in interpretation,” Ayiyi said.
A former Chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikorodu branch, Mr. Bayo Akinlade, said sending facemasks defaulters to already overcrowded prisons might put prisoners at risk of contracting the virus.
Akinlade argued that other punishment that does not include prison term should be given to defaulters as COVID-19 is still ravaging the country.