Lockdown: Police arrest 594, secure conviction of 504 in Niger

The Niger State Police Command has arrested 595 persons for allegedly violating the COVID-19 lockdown order across the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Adamu Usman, made the disclosure to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Thursday.

Mr Usman said the command had secured the conviction of 504 of them through mobile courts in different part of the state.

He said the convicts were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment or given the option of fine.

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Mr Usman said the breach of the existing restriction order by some people resorting to night travels would not be tolerated in the state.

The commissioner said such would be counter-productive and undermine the tireless efforts of the state government at curbing the spread of COVID-19.

He said intelligence report indicated that transport workers, especially inter-state operators, had continued to defy the lockdown order by embarking on night trips.

Mr Usman said already the Area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers in the state had been directed to ensure full implementation of the lockdown order, especially, as it related to night trips.

“The lock down is for 24 hours daily except for window periods. Night hours are not excluded; inter-state movements across the state remain banned”, Usman said.

The commissioner called on the residents of the state to continue to cooperate with the police and other security agencies deployed to enforce the lockdown order so as to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

“We will sustain our ongoing aggressive patrols on all the major highways to ensure strict compliance with the lockdown order,” the commissioner said.

(NAN)