The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, has advised officers and men of the command not to abandon the use of face masks, hand sanitisers and other COVID-19 protocols.

Ciroma gave the advice when the AA Zaura Foundation, donated cartons of hand sanitisers and face masks to the FCT command, on Tuesday in Abuja.

The CP said it was important for officers to adhere to the protocols and not relent in observing them, as they were front line workers.

He said it was necessary for the personnel to take preventive measures against contracting the virus due to the nature of their responsibilities.

“We appreciate the donation of the face masks and sanitisers by the AA Zaura Foundation; it will go a long way in protecting our personnel from being infected.

“You will realise that our work is such that you do not know the state of health of the person you are working with as the police station is a public place where everybody enters.

“And you have to entertain people; you cannot start asking them of their health status as at that time as they might come in distress.

“So if we have some preventive measures like the face masks and sanitisers; they will assist in protecting our personnel,” he said.

Mr Abdulsalam Abdulkarim, Founder of the Foundation, said the gesture was part of the organisation’s corporate social responsibility geared toward securing the police personnel from the scourge of coronavirus.

“The police associate themselves with different types of people; they cannot know who has the virus and who does not have it.

“So, the foundation felt the police should be the first to be protected because they face and receive a lot of people all the time,” Abdulkarim said.

He added that the foundation would continue to support the Nigerian Police Force and other paramilitary organisations in the country.