From Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba
No fewer than 176 defaulters have been convicted in Delta State while 67 were discharged by mobile courts established across the State to enforce the government stay-at-home directive.
The convicts were arraigned under the Delta State Infectious Disease (Emergency Prevention) Regulation 2020 punishable under section 5 of the Quarantine Act Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, and Delta State Infectious Disease (Emergency Prevention) Regulation 2020 punishable under Section 203 of the Criminal Code Law, CAP C21, Laws of Delta State of Nigeria, 2006.
The convicts who pleaded guilty were among the 243 defendants arraigned before Chief Magistrates Odjugo Ena (Ughelli Magisterial Division), Helen Okonkwo (Asaba Magisterial Division) and Sohwo M. Edoja (Warri Magisterial Division).
A breakdown of the figures showed that in Asaba, 127 were arraigned, 89 sentenced and 38 discharged. 45 arraigned, 14 discharged and 31 sentenced in Ughelli, while in Warri 71 arraigned, 56 sentenced and 15 discharged. Some of the convicts who pleaded guilty were fined between N3000 and N5000.
The court ordered that vehicles, tricycles and motorcycles belonging to some of the defaulters be detained until the period of the lockdown was over.
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Some of the convicts were sentenced to do community service for two or more weeks. The presiding magistrates dismissed their defences as unsatisfactory and frivolous.
The court discharged some of the convicts after discovering they were performing essential duties even when the defendants had pleaded guilty.
Meanwhile, with the lockdown in Delta State entering its 12th day, traffic on the River Niger has increased significantly as desperate commuters ferry into the state from neighbouring Anambra State using motorised speed boats.
The Nation gathered that the heavy presence of security personnel on the Asaba end of the River Niger enforcing compliance to the government ordered lockdown may have forced commuters to use alternative routes
Despite a detachment of police from the Marine Police post in the area, commuters are flocking in droves to commute over the River Niger into Onitsha.
The Nation gathered that boatmen operating from the marine area of Asaba metropolis charge N500 per passenger or as much as N4000 for a chartered trip to Onitsha.
The neighbourhood is largely populated by Hausas, Yorubas and other ethnic groups and it is home to many low income earners who are mainly artisans.
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