Court fines demolished hotel manager N50, 000 for violating lockdown order

A Port Harcourt Magistrate Court on Monday slammed N50,000 fine against the manager of the demolished Prudent Hotel in Alode, Eleme, Rivers state, Mr. Bariledum Azoroh.

That was after the court held that the manager violated the executive order of Governor Nyesom Wike on closure of hotels in the state.

The executive order was to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Senior Magistrate, Rita Ogugua, who delivered the judgement further ordered that Azoroh should also be sent to the isolation centre for 14 days.

Furthermore, the senior magistrate directed that the hotel manager should undergo coronavirus test to ascertain his COVID-19 status.

The magistrate court said Azoroh was convicted after contravening paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Executive Order number 7 of the state government under the quarantine regulations.

Defence counsel to the hotel manager, Godwin Awii, was absent during the court proceedings which prompted the manager to insist on seeing his lawyer, but lawyers to the state governmentz said that Awii had sent a text message to withdraw from the case.

The defence counsel in his text message, explained that he was absent in court because of his inability to obtain a pass as an essential service provider during the lockdown.

However, Awii said he would meet with his client to know the next line of action, adding that “despite his plea to get his counsel to represent him, they went ahead and entered judgement against the accused person. What has happened now is that there is probably an underlining issue that we don’t know.

“I don’t agree entirely with everything that transpired in the court today. The constitution is very clear as to the right to counsel, adequate time and facility for an accused person standing trial to defend himself. All those rights, from my observation were not observed.

“It behoves on the accused person or the defence counsel, if they want to appeal, to proceed upstairs and test the validity of the proceeding,” he said.