TheCable

The federal capital territory administration (FCTA) task force on COVID-19 on Wednesday stopped staff of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) from proceeding with their promotion examination.

The examination which was to commence at the M & M Event Centre adjacent Nixon Luxury Hotel, Area 11, Abuja, was stopped over failure to comply with COVID-19 protocol.

Ikharo Attah, the task force’s head of media and enlightenment, said the NSITF did not obtain the necessary permit to hold the exercise and also failed to control the crowd.

“We have been inundated with so many calls from staff of the NSITF in the past three days that they have been called in for a promotion exam and from what they understand, the number of people coming is into some thousands and they would not be able to check overcrowdedness,” he told TheCable.

“Our chairman, the commissioner of police, got so much complains this morning and some even came to the Eagles Square to lodge their complaints and we saw pictures and videos of the crowd.

“They claimed that they had permission and we asked them to show it to us but they couldn’t provide it. So we asked them to disperse and go home.

“We asked that the most senior person who is an executive director or a general manager should follow us to give an explanation. But while the entire staff agreed, some of the labour union members did not allow the person to follow us.

“After some time, we realized that the man and two other directors scaled the fence and ran away. We had no other option but to tow one of the vehicles.”

Attah said the event centre where the examination was being held will also be shut down.