A Magistrate Court sitting in Port Harcourt has convicted 70 northern indigenes for violating Governor Wike’s anti COVID-19 directives.
The 70 suspects who were leaving the state for Zamfara were seen aboard heavy-duty trucks, were arrested few days ago by officials of the taskforce on border closure.
The suspects pleaded guilty to the one count charge, and were given fines ranging from N10,000 and N20,000 depending on their level of involvement in the crime.
The drivers of the trucks who said they came to off-load foodstuffs in the state, noted that the suspects decided to join them on their way back. They said the suspects wanted to leave the state due to untold hardship caused by the lockdown imposed by the government in some areas of the state.
The Magistrate ruled that the sum of N250,000 be paid for the release of the trucks.
