311 COVID-19 Curfew Violators Convicted In Kaduna

Kaduna State has convicted 311 persons for violating the Quarantine Law, which stipulates restriction of movement as part of measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state.

Those prosecuted were among the 373 people who were arrested by officials within two days for violating the curfew.

In a  statement issued on Wednesday, the state Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General, Aisha Dikko, revealed that the convictions were made by the eight mobile courts set up last week to try residents who flout the restriction of movement order and other COVID-19 protocol violations.

According to her, most of the culprits violated the stay at home order, failed to wear face masks, and violated other traffic laws.

The commissioner also disclosed that the government got more than N1 million from fines paid by offenders between Monday and Tuesday.

She added that some offenders were merely warned by the courts and others were sentenced to community service for their infractions.

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On March 26, the Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, Dr Hadiza Balarabe, imposed a lockdown on the state by invoking the 1999 Constitution, Sections 2 and 8 of the Quarantine Act of 1926 and Kaduna State Public Health Law of 1917.

Giving a breakdown of the offenders, Dikko said, ‘’Tuesday had the highest number of convictions with 208 offenders, and Gabasawa topped the list with 36 convictions while Mararaban Rido had the least number with 10.

“Rigachikun Mobile Court, however, collected the highest amount of fine with N267,500, in spite of the fact that it had 31 convictions – five convicts less than Gabasawa.”

According to the statement, the government secured 103 convictions on Monday out of 139 violations across the eight court locations of Kakuri, Kawo, Magajin Gari, Rigasa, Sabon Tasha, Mararaban Rido and Rigachukun.

Of the figure, Sabon Tasha area had 24 culprits – the highest number of offenders, while Mararaban Rido had eight, representing the lowest number of violators.

The commissioner also said 29 offenders were asked to perform community service on Monday and Sabon Tasha topped the list with 20 people on Tuesday, while Kawo and Mararaban Rido had one offender each.