Coronavirus: Court remands Nigerian for taking blood sample of pregnant women

A 34-year-old Nigerian has been arrested for allegedly defying the restriction order by taking blood samples of pregnant women and residents at Gbese Community, a suburb of James Town without legal authority.

Chukwuka James, 34, has therefore been remanded by the Accra Circuit Court presided over by Afia Owusuwaa Appiah to re-appear on April 15, 2020.

His plea was not taken because prosecution had indicated it will need time to augment their facts with new information.

In court on Wednesday, the Prosecution led by Chief Inspector Gulliver Tenkorang told the court that the suspect was arrested holding medical equipment.

He told the court that certain amendments needed to be added to the facts and will need one week to have that done. He subsequently prayed for the suspect to be remanded.

The court while remanding the suspect to reappear on April 15, for his plea to be taken, ordered the prosecution to file their disclosures before the next court date.

Tears flow

The suspect immediately after being remanded broke down in tears while kneeling before the court and asking for clemency.

He said it was not intentional that he came out that day and begged for forgiveness.



Brief facts

The facts of the case as presented to the court were that Chukwuka James, 34, is a Nigerian national and currently resides at Newtown, in Accra.

According to Chief Inspector Tenkorang, the prosecutor in the case, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the president by Executive Instrument 65 in accordance with provisions of the Imposition Restrictions Act 2020 (Act 1012) imposed a two-week lockdown on some specified areas, including the area of suspect in Newtown on March 30, 2020.

He told the court that on April 4, 2020, at about 0900 hours, police had information that the suspect was taking blood samples, checking BP, and sugar level of residents in Gbese Community.

According to him, the police proceeded to Gbese in James Town and arrested the suspect who had in his possession glucometer, thermometer, test strips and gloves.

Upon interrogation, the suspect informed the police that he is a distributor of food supplement and admitted that he went to Gbese to check the blood pressure of his client.

He said it came to light that suspect does not fall within the exemption group with regards to the imposition of restrictions on all persons in Ghana.

A pregnant woman who lives in Gbese Community confirmed to police that her blood pressure was checked by the accused person.