Counsel Wants End To Rivers Judiciary Strike

Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State (left), congratulating the new acting Chief Judge of the State, Justice Aliyu Liman, during the swearing-in in Bauchi recently.

A Port Harcourt-
based lawyer, Barr. Endurance Akpelu, has called upon the state government to quickly resolve the problem in the judiciary so that justice delivery would not be hindered.
Barr. Akpelu, who stated this in Port Harcourt last Monday, noted that judiciary was the third arm of government and pointed out that rule of law could not be sustained if judiciary was permanently shut out in democratic governance.
He said private lawyers were facing a hard time with the courts on strike. The Port Harcourt lawyer remarked that apart from the fact that lawyers were not finding it easy to make ends meet with the strike in the Rivers judiciary, the worst-hit were suspects who were allowed to languish in police custody and pointed out that accused were adjudged innocent until proven guilty by the law courts.
Barrister Akpelu said the police were cashing in on the judiciary strike to hike bail irrespective of the fact that bail was meant to be free.
He said before the strike the courts were inundated with a plethora of cases and stated that the scenario would be worse when the strike would be called off.
The Port Harcourt lawyer also stated that the judiciary as the last hope of the common man should not be closed down so that the common man does not suffer unjustly.
He called for a truce between the state government and its judiciary.
Barr. Akpelu said the problem on who becomes the Chief Judge should not be allowed to divide the judiciary as the matter was already in court.
He said urgent steps had to be taken to resolve the strike so that the hope of the common man could be rekindled.

Chidi Enyie