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JJC SKILLZ/ TWITTER
Prominent Nigerian actress Funke Akindele has been arrested after holding a party during the lockdown imposed to tackle coronavirus.
She was widely criticised online for the party in her Lagos mansion, held to celebrate the birthday of her husband.
Akindele has appeared in a Nigeria Centre for Disease Control video to raise awareness about coronavirus.
She defended the party, saying that everyone who was there had been living in her house for several days.
"Nobody came from their house to party with us," she said in a video shared on her Twitter feed.
However, she did apologise and promised to practise social distancing:
I hear you all and I acknowledge all your honest feedback.
I also thank you for your concerns, well wishes and calls.
I am sorry and hope this video offers some explanation.
Please stay safe. And God bless. @lagosstategovt twitter.com/unilagolodo/st…
640 people are talking about this
End of Twitter post by @funkeakindele
Those seen in the video include singer Naira Marley and actress Eniola Badmus, and some Nigerians have questioned whether they have been living with Akindele and her husband.
It is not clear how many people attended the event in Lagos, where all gatherings of more than 25 people have been banned.
Even if the limit was not breached, the video, posted online by Akindele's husband Abdul Rasheed Bello, known as JJC Skillz, has been widely condemned for setting the wrong example.
Lagos State police say they have intensified "efforts to arrest the remaining persons in the video".
They have urged her husband, and Naira Marley, to report to the police on Monday or "risk being declared wanted".
Following the furore, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and cleaning products company Dettol have distanced themselves from Akindele, saying she hold no official ambassadorial position with them, despite appearing on the video they produced together.
They have both emphasised the need for social distancing.
Akindele is one of Nigeria's best-known actresses and came to prominence for her series Jenifa's Diary, broadcast on national TV.
A lockdown was imposed in Lagos, the neighbouring state of Ogun and the capital, Abuja, last week in order to halt the spread of the virus.
Nigeria has confirmed 232 cases of coronavirus so far, with five deaths and 33 people discharged.
Source: BBC
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