The FCT Administration Taskforce on Enforcement of Covid-19 Protocols, on Wednesday, February 3, 2021 stopped the promotional examination of the staff of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) due to non-adherence to the Covid-19 safety protocols.
Over 1,200 staff of the NSITF were said to have converged at the New M&M event centre beside NICON Luxury Hotel, Area 11, Abuja for the examination, without adherence to the Health Protection Regulations Act, 2021, recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The hall which was meant to sit less than 500 persons had over 1200 NSITF staff from different parts of the country.
According to a report from News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the taskforce dispersed the members of staff of the NSITF from the exam hall and invited Mr Tesh Kibikiwa, the General Regional Manager, Abuja, who was coordinating the exams, for further explanations.
While briefing newsmen, the Head, Media and Enlightenment of the taskforce, Mr Ikharo Attah, said they had to take action following series of complaints from the staff of the NSITF.
Attah said, “We have been receiving so much calls from the staff of the NSITF for the past three days that they have been called in for their promotion exams and that from what they understand, the number of people coming, they won’t be able to check overcrowdedness, so that we should please postpone the exams”.
He added that the Taskforce Chairman, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, had also gotten several complaints about the conduction of the examination, with some people showing picture and video pieces of evidence of the crowd.
He revealed that on getting to the venue, the taskforce met a mammoth crowd, but the officer coordinating the examinations claimed that they got approval from the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 to conduct the exams.
When asked for the evidence of permission given, he couldn’t provide it.
On this note, the crowd was dispersed and asked to go home.
Officials of the NSITF however resisted the order to vacate the premises.
Amidst the pandemonium, two of those in charge of organizing the exams fled the scene to escape arrest and interrogation.
Their cars were towed by the Abuja Vehicle Inspection Officers until they show up for interrogation.
