Driver: I took alcohol to mourn Jesus’ death

Nicholas Tetteh, a driver, on Friday, confessed to the police that he took alcohol in order to mourn the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

This was after a task force made up of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) and Motor Traffic and Transport Department of Ghana Police Service stopped the vehicle of Tetteh as part of measures to educate drivers on safe driving as Christians celebrate Easter.

He was driving a Honda Element saloon car with registration number, DV 3049. He caught the attention of the task force with his strange behaviour after his vehicle was stopped.

When he underwent an alcohol detector test, he exceeded the acceptable limit of 0.08 to 0.32.

“I am a Christian and I love Jesus Christ and today (Easter Friday) being the day He was killed, the only thing I could do to mourn His death was to take some alcohol.

“It is like having your loved one dead and being taken to the morgue, the only thing you can do is to get intoxicated to mourn him or her and that is exactly what I did in this case, to mourn my dear Jesus Christ,” he said.

The taskforce impounded his car and as they were preparing to handover him over to the Amasaman Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Angwubutoge Awuni, the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit Commander appeared at the scene.

Sensing that the Police would detain him, Tetteh quickly went on his knees begging ACP Awuni to set him free, vowing not to drink while driving again.

His plea was, however, not taken as ACP Awuni instructed that he should be put behind bars till Monday while the alcoholic test conducted on him is taken to a hospital for confirmation before being processed to court.

One Joseph Quartey was also arrested for driving a tipper truck whilst drank and without a driver’s license.

Mr. Noah Tetteh Matey, Greater Accra Regional Manager of DVLA in an interview with Ghana News Agency advised drivers to desist from drinking alcohol while driving.