Magistrate and High Courts in Lagos were under
lock and key on Monday as non-judicial officers went on strike to support
their demand for improved working conditions.
The indefinite strike, called by the Judicial
Staff Association of Nigeria (JUSAN), came after a five-day warning strike
ended on Nov. 5.
Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria
(NAN), who went round Lagos and Ikeja divisions of the state judiciary, said
court activities were paralysed due to the strike.
At the Lagos Division, non-judicial officers
stayed away from the premises, except for a few security men, one of whom
told NAN: ``We are on strike.''
At Ikeja, the Chief Judge, Justice Ade Alabi,
who showed up early, was unable to access his chambers, though he managed to
gain entry into the premises.
Speaking with journalists who accosted him,
Alabi frowned at the strike, saying it was ``illegal and unconstitutional''.
He said: ``Everybody has the right to come
together, which can be called an association. But that does not make the
association legal.
``When you want to form a trade union, you go
to the Nigeria Labour Congress after you must have met other conditions. We
told them that this issue they are fighting for is not possible until the
constitution is amended.
``We are operating a federal system. In other
words, what is good for Lagos State may not be good for Oyo State. It is not
the federal government who pays their salaries; it is the state
government.''
Alabi said he met with the officials last week
but they had insisted that they had to go ahead in line with the directive
by the national body.
He said he refrained from calling in the police
in order not to worsen the situation.
Mr Adekunle Ojo, Chairman, Nigerian Bar
Association, Ikeja branch, told newsmen the strike was legal, saying: ``The
workers have the constitutional right to come together and fight for their
rights.''
JUSAN resolved to embark on the strike at its
meeting on Nov. 27 at Mararaba, Nasarawa State, during which it reviewed the
effect of warning strikes, among other issues.
In its six-point resolution, the association
said its demands were ``just and targeted toward the realisation of the
quasi-autonomy granted the judiciary by the 1999 constitution''.
The resolution, signed by the association's
President and Secretary-General, Messers Usamatu Amin and Basil Mbanefo
respectively, said the demands were also to check corrupt practices among
non-judicial officers.
``The tendency is partially attributed to the
inexplicable
neglect of condition of service of the workers
in the past years considering the demeaning condition in which the staff
operate,'' it said.
The resolution also frowned at ``the
psychologically destructive disparity in payment schedule within the
system''.
It regretted that the leadership of the
judiciary, National Assembly, Judicial Service Commission and state
governors did not make any effort to resolve the problem or initiate
dialogue on the matter.
JUSAN directed its members to embark on the
strike until they received a contrary directive from the association's
National Executive Council.
The National Judicial Institute, comprising the
Chief Justice, President, Court of Appeal, all the states' Chief Judges,
representatives of the Grand Khadis and Presidents of the Customary Court of
Appeal, had declared the strike as unlawful.
The 242 million-dollar scam trial of Emmanuel
Nwude and six others, billed to come up on Monday, was stalled due to the
strike.
Also stalled was the trial of retired Lt.-Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi
and four others over the alleged attempt to murder Mr Alex Ibru, publisher
of The Guardian newspapers.
