TheCable

Staff members of Ebute Metta chief magistrates’ court in Lagos were, on Friday, chased out of their offices by officials of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).

JUSUN had shut all courts across the nation in protest against the non-implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary.

But Shobowale Kehinde, JUSUN Lagos chairman, on April 22, said some of its workers in the state will be allowed to resume partially to enable the courts to clear a backlog of important cases.

Kehinde said the decision was based on the fact that the Lagos state government has shown interest in addressing JUSUN’s demands.

Consequently, a circular signed by one Sanusi Kamal who identified himself as a director of administration was issued on Thursday asking all members of staff in Lagos to resume.

However, the national leadership of JUSUN has frowned against the partial reopening by the Lagos chapter.

Isaiah Adesola, national secretary of the union, kicked against the decision by the Lagos chapter, adding that such action goes against the general interest of the union.

“This strike is called by the NEC of this union and so, no branch or chapter has the power or authority to hold a congress within their states to decide to go back to work,” Adesola said.

“The NEC called out the workers on strike, and it is the NEC that will announce to all the workers or Nigerians that the dispute has been settled and then people can resume work. So, what they are doing in Lagos is self-made.”

Some staff members of the Ebute Metta chief magistrates’ court were seen hanging around the court premises, while others left for their homes after being chased out of their offices.

A staff member, who spoke to NAN on the condition of anonymity, said there haven’t been serious activities at the court, but the workers decided to resume because they were tired of staying at home.

“The courts were initially opened on Thursday but the magistrates did not show up. Today again, in the morning, we resumed activities but we were told to halt all activities and vacate the premises and wait for further instructions,” the staff member said.

“Although we have been coming every other day, we always hang around because they deny us access to the court premises. Hopefully, the strike yields a positive result soonest; we are tired of being idle.”