Mobile courts set up to try violators of the Covid-19 lockdown order in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have convicted at least 20 persons in different parts of Abuja.
Chairman, FCT Movement Restrictions Enforcement Team, Mr. Ikharo Attah, disclosed this to journalists in Abuja during an update on the level of compliance with the regulations put in place to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The FCT has recorded the second highest Covid-19 cases with 58 persons impacted. However, 23 have been discharged as at April 15,2020. Nigeria has a total of 407 cases with 12 fatalities and 128 discharged.
Mr. Attah disclosed that those convicted were fined between N1,000 and N5,000, explaining that those whose vehicles were impounded would only get them back after the lockdown had been lifted, with the likelihood of paying for demurrage.
He warned residents who engage in early morning fitness exercises to desist from such activity especially those jogging around town, as clampdown would commence Friday morning.
Attah revealed that a fake policeman was arrested in the Mpape area of the territory, adding that more mobile courts will be established soon.
He said: “We have at least five Mobile Courts and we are hoping to open more with the assistance of the Legal Unit of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services.
“As at 1 p.m., we already secured 20 convictions, while two pleaded not guilty. We also arrested a man who is not a Policeman, but was wearing a Police cap. He is currently being detained at the Police Station in Mpape.
“We were at the Kubwa-Mpape road as early as 4 a.m.; we are going to tighten our grip on these areas because when we locked down Mpape to traffic, we discovered that residents were sneaking out massively on foot to access Maitama.
“While we are continuing with our general enforcement, we are going to start arresting people found jogging, as from Friday.
“We now have thousands of people coming out in some areas to jog, very early in the morning. We are going to arrest them,” he added.
