TRACKING___At least 30 persons were on Thursday arrested by men of the Delta Police Command for flouting the stay-at-home directive by the State Government in Warri.
The defaulters were also arraigned at the Magistrate Court 1, a mobile court recently set up by the State Government, also within the city.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa had declared a 14-day lockdown with effect from April 1 as part of precautionary measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Delta reported its first case of the disease on Tuesday evening.
The Warri Area Commander, ACP Mohammed Garba, who spoke shortly before the proceedings, said security operatives had arrested a good number of defaulters and will continue to enforce the order.
“You can see that we are at the Magistrate Court 1, Warri, one of the mobile courts set up by the state government to try those who disobey the lockdown order.
“You also see that we have apprehended a lot of people who have disobeyed the stay-at-home order by the state government. I do not know what they are doing outside even when they know that there is a lockdown in the state.
“The magistrate is here and those that cannot be fined will be taken to the correctional centre. We have made arrests, it is left for the court to do it’s work.
“We have been advising people not to go out. This lockdown is for the benefit of all of us. We do not want any casualty in this state,” he said.
Meanwhile, the suspects who were arrested by the police in different parts of the area were arraigned before Mrs. E. M Sowho.
Magistrate Sowho said their actions violated Regulation 2 sub 1 of the Infectious Disease (Emergency Prevention Regulations) 2020 of the Delta state government, adding that the offence was punishable under section 61 of the Public Health Law of Delta, Nigeria 2006.
The suspects, who pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge, were however fined between N500 and N1000 each to serve as deterrent to others.
