An Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court has found four individuals guilty of defying the COVID-19 interstate lockdown and subsequently convicted them.
The quartet; Afolabi Shuaib, Daramola Sulaimon, Ibe Gregory and Adeniyi Idowu, were arrested at Igbara Odo, a border town in Ekiti State on their way from Lagos.
Igbara Odo, the town where they were arrested, is located in Ekiti Southwest local government area and shares boundary with Ondo State.
All the defendants, however, pleaded guilty to the three-count charge, thereby not wasting the time of the court.
The court presided over by Mr Abdulhamid Lawal on Tuesday convicted and imposed a fine of N30,000 on Shuaib, the driver of the truck which conveyed them from Lagos.
The three passengers who hid inside the truck were also convicted and bagged a fine of N10,000 each for violating government order on the restriction of movement across borders.
The prosecutor, Mr Clement Ayoola, the Director of Evaluation and Monitoring Department in the Ministry of Justice, told the court that the defendants were nabbed at Igbara Odo while attempting to illegally enter Ekiti while hiding inside the truck.
He said that the driver converted his truck with the registration number EPE 964 LP to a commercial vehicle and transported the other defendants from Alaba Market in Lagos State to Ekiti State.
The prosecutor noted that the offence contrary to the provision of Regulation 2 (1) (a) punishable under Regulation 12 of the Ekiti State Coronavirus (Prevention of Infection) Regulations 1-4, 2020 made pursuant to Section 8 of the Quarantine Act, Cap Q2, LFN, 2004.
Reported by: Vincent Paul
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