Admin I Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2019
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – There was a mild drama today at the Domestic and Special Offences court, when the enforcement team of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA),Ikeja, led by its chairman, Dele Oloke stormed the court to monitor the call by th NBA to stay away from the courts for two day.
The NBA took the decision to condemn what they see as impunity and an affront on the judiciary, following the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend Chief Justice of Nigeria,(CJN), Justice Walter Kanu Samuel Onnoghen and to appoint Justice Tanko Mohammed as Acting CJN.
But his effort to enforce the order resulted in a heated argument between Justice Sherifat Solebo of an Ikeja Special Offences Court and Mr Dele Oloke.
“I would not be entertained by any interruption, we know the rules of court, Mr Oloke be properly guided. The National Judicial Council (NJC) has not directed that judges should not sit, the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has not shut the door. I am still in charge of this court, Mr Oloke, what you are doing is contemptuous,” Justice Solebo said.
Following the judge’s outburst, the NBA Ikeja Chairman told lawyers who were in Justice Solebo’s courtroom to obey the boycott directive of the NBA and leave the courtroom.
Some judges at the Ikeja High Court continued to sit despite the boycott directive of the NBA.
The national body of the NBA, via resolution at its National Executive Council meeting held on Monday, Jan. 28 had resolved to embark on a two-day boycott of courts on Jan. 29 and 30.
The boycott is to protest the suspension of Nigeria’s Chief Justice, Walter Onnoghen.
Earlier at 9.56am, the NBA team were unable to stop the proceedings of Justice Sururat Soladoye of an Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court as the judge was about to rise from proceedings for the day as the team stormed her courtroom.
The proceedings of Justice Mojisola Dada of a Special Offences Court could also not be interrupted at 10.42am by Oloke and his team because the judge was delivering a judgment at the time. NAN
