Lockdown: Five arrested for defying order to play draughts

Five persons could face jail after they were arrested by the police for flouting Covid-19 lockdown directive.

The suspects were arrested at Sofoabodwese – a popular neighborhood at Krofrom in Kumasi, the Ashanti Regional capital.

They were found playing draughts (checkers) when officers from the Tafo-Pankrono District Command raided the community last Wednesday.

The accused persons have been named as; 31-year-old Eugene Appiah, Anthony Appiah, 34, Moro Issah, 24, Kofi Yeboah, 31 and 28-year-old David Akandah.

Their caution statements have since been taken as part of police investigations.

The suspects, according to the police, have since been admitted to bail and will face a lower court on Thursday, April 16, 2020.

The Ashanti Region has the second-highest case of Covid-19 infections with 53 cases after Greater Accra Region which has recorded 509.

Security agencies have since been deployed to the regional capital, Kumasi, to enforce a lockdown directive to curb the spread of the Coronavirus outbreak.

Over 70 persons have been arrested for flouting the lockdown in the region, the Ghana Police Service said on Tuesday, April 14, at a press conference.

Over 400 suspects have been arrested countrywide for similar offences.

Ghana’s Covid-19 case count stands at 636 with eight deaths as at Tuesday, April 14, 2020, according to figures from the Ghana Health Service.