OWERRI— A chief magistrate’s court sitting at Umelemai in Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State has convicted two motorcyclists (Okada riders) for conducting themselves in a disorderly manner, thereby causing public disquiet and nuisance.

In the judgment, which took place on Friday, the prosecution alleged that the Okada men committed the offence same day while escorting a hearse removed from a mortuary in Agbaja Ehime Mbano to its home somewhere in Isiala Mbano.

Source has it that the convicted two were among five cyclists arrested by the Police on duty at the court which was in full session at the time when the Okada men, who rode as if hell was let loose, halted their movement beside the court premises, blaring horns, screeching tyres and displaying acrobatics with their motorcycles.

The two had removed the exhaust pipes of their motorcycles, which produced sounds capable of driving any sane person crazy. “That was what irked the court,” remarked the Deputy Chief Registrar, Chief Alakwem Alex.

Delivering judgment, the presiding magistrate, E.U. Chiaka observed that the bizarre conduct of the Okada men disrupted the conduct of court proceedings in a congenial and conducive atmosphere as the court was in session, and therefore sentenced them for contempt of court.

However, after taking pleas for clemency volunteered by men of the bar present in court, the judge handed down a sentence of two weeks jail or option of N5,000 fine for each of the two convicts.

The sentence was to serve as a deterrent to other motorcyclists who might hide under the cover of being in the convoy of the dead to act lawlessly and criminally break public order.