Reptiles, weeds take over courts in Aba

As a result of the lingering strike by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, Abia State chapter, weeds and reptiles have taken over court premises in Aba, the commercial hub of the state. Court buildings now serve as abode for birds, reptiles and other wild animals as JUSUN leadership were yet to heed the call of stakeholders in the judicial sector to call off the strike.

JUSUN in the state had been on strike for several months now over the non-implementation of the judgement of the Federal High Court on their salaries and allowances, leading to the closure of courts across the various judicial divisions of the state.

When South East Voice visited Magistrate Court 1, Aba South, the gates were firmly locked even as traders had converted a part of the entrance to a semi-market. It was the same situation at the Aba North Magistrate Court 1, adjacent the Business Office of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, on the Ikot Ekpene Road.

At the Aba High Court complex, which shares boundary with the Nigerian Prisons, Aba, cars were used to barricade the gates of the premises even as the premises of the various high courts as well as other uncompleted court halls had all been overgrown with thick bushes.

A book seller at the Aba High Court premises, Victor Nkemakolam said the strike action had inflicted hardship on both himself and his family. According to him, “my family lives on what I make from selling books at the High Court, but things have been very difficult since the strike began.”

Speaking on the situation, an official of JUSUN, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said his union would not call off the strike until their demands were met. He, however, said that meetings were being held between the stakeholders in the Judiciary and the leadership of the union with a view to resolving the matter.

In a chat with South East Voice in Aba, a legal practitioner, Chief Ogbonnaya Dike accused JUSUN of pursuing their interests. “JUSUN members are being paid while they are not working. So, who is cheating who? The Bar has met and asked JUSUN to go back to work but they have been adamant. The courts should be opened because it is only the lawyers that are suffering while judicial workers are being paid their monthly salaries.

“Lawyers, who earn their living from the courts are being starved. So, it is unfair. We support the decision of the Federal High Court, but JUSUN in Abia is insisting on something different. Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Aba branch, Chidozie Ogunji also, told South East Voice that it was regrettable that the courts were shut down, describing it as a thing of great pain.

He further said that the five Bar branches in Abia State; Aba, Isiala Ngwa, Umuahia, Ohafia and Ukwa hosted a meeting of the stakeholders with other leaders of the Bar in which some decisions were reached to resolve the matter.