A total of 399 out of the 716 suspected defaulters of the lockdown order of Delta state government have so far been sentenced to various fines by the mobile courts across the state while 209 others discharged.
The mobile courts were inaugurated across the three senatorial districts by the State Chief Judge, Justice Marshal Umukoro on April 7, 2020, to prosecute offenders who violate the restriction of movement of people, and product within, and out of the state as a proactive measure to curb the spread of the virus in the state.
The latest sitting at Ozoro Magisterial District saw the conviction of 86 defaulters for contravening the stay-at-home order.
The convicts were arrested by the police from Ozoro, Abbi, Otor-Owhe, Kwale and Oleh communities.
ALSO READ: Niger Police arrests three suspected abductors of 4-year-old boyÂ
Mr Humphrey Oghoghomeh, Principal State Counsel, Ministry of Justice, Ozoro Zone told the court that the suspects were found walking about and travelling without a pass, and were not engaging in essential services that fell under the exemption list thereby flouting the Stay-at-Home order of the state governor.
Pleading guilty to the one-count charge, the defendants who were not represented by any legal practitioner pleaded for leniency, explaining that they went out to buy foodstuffs or finding their daily bread following the extension of the lockdown order for another two weeks.
While claiming to have exhausted their savings, a couple(names withheld) said that they were travelling from Asaba to Ughelli to join their children as a result of the extension.
The presiding Chief Magistrate, Happy Enakpoya, who held that the reasons adduced by the defendants for their arrest were frivolous and unsatisfactory however gave some fines ranging from N500.00 to N3000.00 to those found guilty while sentencing others to community service.
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