Judge condemns desecration of the temple of justice
NBA chairman manhandled, says protest was not politically motivated
APC governorship candidate, Cole, decry action of protesting lawyers
Admin l Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2019
PORT HARCOURT, Rivers, Nigeria – There were fist-cuffs at the Court of Appeal, in Port Harcourt, on Wednesday, when lawyers who had embarked on a two-day protest over the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) attempted to disrupt an on-going court session.
The three man panel being presided over by Justice A. A. Gumel were thoroughly shocked and in panic when the protesters stormed the court. Justice Gumel wondered why both parties failed to serve the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC which is the main party in the matter.
The court was billed to hear an appeal for a stay of execution of the judgement of Justice James Kolawole Omotosho of the Federal High , Port Harcourt, Division, filed by candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Tonye Cole, who emerged as the candidate of the party through an indirect primary of the group loyal to the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
Justice Omotosho had earlier aligned with the judgement of Justice Chiwendu Nworgu of the Rivers State High Court, of October 10, 2018, which nullified the ward, local government and state congresses of May 19, 20 and 21, respectively. Justice Omotosho had declared that the congresses haven been nullified, the indirect primary that elected Cole has no leg to stand because the delegates that elective emerged through a defective process.
Protesters, led by the Chairman of the Port Harcourt branch of the Nigerian Bar Association NBA, Sylvester Adaka, had barged into the court, saying the court could not sit because of the two-day protest approved by the NBA.The APC gubernatorial candidate and the other of the party for elective positions in Rivers State were all present in court.
In the melee that ensued, Adaka was manhandled and suffered a black-eye. Some of the lawyers who had stormed the court to prevent the sitting from holding also suffered some bruises.
Justice Gumel who was apparently unimpressed with the incursion into the court by the protesting lawyers, warned the lawyers not to desecrate the temple of justice. Adaka narrated: ” We were in the premises o the Court of Appeal when some thugs zeroed in on me and some of my colleagues. If not for the intervention of my colleagues that were around, nobody knows what would have happened. The court was still sitting and continued sitting after the attack.”
“Our protest was peaceful and not politically motivated. We had earlier informed the Chief registration of the Court of Appeal of our plans to stage a peaceful protest here, today. The protest is aimed at protection the rule of law.”
Cole, who was in court said “it is unfortunate what happened in the court, today. The judge spoke very calmly. He told them that they were ministers in the temple of justice and should not do anything to desecrate the temple. The judge said he will simply record the case and take the motions at another date. And I think that was fair enough.”
The Director-General of the APC governorship candidate, Dr. Chidi Lloyd, and the immediate past Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, said from the amateur video clip he saw, “there were some thugs among the protesters.”
Publicity Secretary of the APC, Chris Finebone, in a statement, alleged that the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) had sent political thugs to disrupt the sitting, so that the matter will not be held, to create a situation where the matte will be postponed to prevent the APC from fielding candidates for the 2019 general elections.
But the PDP in its response stated that the party has nothing to gain from APC’s worries, advising it to put its house in order, rather than blaming the PDP for a problem it has brought upon itself.
