*Says Strike Threat Is Cover For Criminal Activity, Calls For Federal High Court Prosecution
![](https://thenigerialawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/TheNigerialawyer-WhatsApp-Channel1.jpg")
Senior Advocate of Nigeria Chief Yomi Alliyu has accused the Osun State Chairman of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria and a High Court Registrar of breaking into the premises of the Osun State High Court at Odeomu in the middle of the night to remove a case file, and has alleged that the JUSUN Chairman subsequently threatened to shut down all courts in Osun State as a cover for the criminal activity after the pair were apprehended by security personnel and taken to a police station.
In a press release issued on Friday, Alliyu described the incident as a “gangsteristic commando action” and called on the police and the Chief Judge of Osun State not to be deterred by the JUSUN Chairman’s alleged blackmail, urging that the matter be charged to the Federal High Court if investigation discloses criminal conduct, “without sparing the Oga patapata at the Ministry of Justice who allegedly sent them.”
The explosive allegations, if proven, would implicate not only the JUSUN official and the court registrar but potentially a senior figure at the Osun State Ministry of Justice in what Alliyu describes as a conspiracy to tamper with court records in a case involving United Bank for Africa and Federal Government allocation to local government councils.
According to Alliyu’s account, the incident occurred on the evening of Wednesday, April 23, 2026, after all judiciary staff had closed for the day and retired to their homes.
Mr. Idris Adeniran, the Osun State JUSUN Chairman, in the company of the Registrar of the Osun State High Court at Odeomu, allegedly entered the court premises without the knowledge, consent, or approval of Justice Okediya, the presiding judge assigned to the matter.
Their purpose, according to the press release, was to take a case file concerning a UBA matter related to Federal Government allocation to local government councils, “with a view to working on it.”
Security men stationed at the court premises detected the intrusion and alerted Justice Sikiru Oke, a judge who hails from the town of Odeomu.
Justice Oke instructed the security personnel to alert the police. He subsequently informed his brother judge, Justice Okediya, the presiding judge in the case whose file was allegedly being removed. Justice Okediya agreed with the steps taken by Justice Oke, confirming he had not authorised any access to the case file or the court premises at that hour.
The two individuals found inside the court were apprehended and taken to the police station, where they were given administrative bail with instructions to report back the following day.
What happened next is what Alliyu describes as “criminal effrontery.”
According to the senior advocate, the Registrar complied with the police instruction and reported back to the station, where he was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Bureau in Osogbo for further investigation.
However, the JUSUN Chairman, Adeniran, allegedly refused, failed, and neglected to report back to the police station as instructed.
Instead, Alliyu alleges, Adeniran issued a threat to the police that if the Registrar was not released within 24 hours, he would close down all courts in Osun State, effectively using his position as head of the judiciary workers’ union to weaponise a strike action as leverage to free a colleague who was under investigation for breaking into a courthouse at night.
“In a manner of being a judge in his own case and using trade union, JUSUN, as a cover for his criminal act, he issued threat to police that if the Registrar was not released within 24 hours he would close down all courts in Osun State! What a criminal effrontery!” Alliyu stated.
The senior advocate noted that Adeniran was “silent on his being a participant criminis in the act leading to the Registrar’s arrest,” meaning the JUSUN Chairman’s threat was made without acknowledging that he himself was present at the courthouse during the alleged break-in and was equally implicated.
Alliyu raised a critical jurisdictional point about Adeniran’s presence at the High Court premises.
“It should be stated that the JUSUN Chairman is not a staff of the High Court but Customary Court of Appeal and has no business going to the High Court at Odeomu at such an ungodly hour,” Alliyu stated.
As a staff member of the Customary Court of Appeal, Adeniran’s official duties and workplace are separate from the High Court at Odeomu. His presence at a different court’s premises at night, in the company of that court’s registrar, to access a case file in a specific matter, raises immediate questions about his purpose, his authority, and who directed him to be there.
“The pertinent question is what law gives JUSUN Chairman the right to invade a High Court premises at that ungodly hour claiming that he was helping the government to compile record of appeal when in actual fact he is not a worker at the High Court but Customary Court?” Alliyu asked.
Alliyu directly contradicted a claim allegedly made by Adeniran that the Registrar sought and obtained the permission of Justice Okediya, the presiding judge, to work overnight on the case file.
“He also lied that the Registrar sought and got the permission of Justice Okediya, the presiding judge, to work overnight. His Lordship never gave such approval and he is not even competent to so do without the written consent of the Chief Judge of the State,” Alliyu stated.
The clarification is significant on two levels. First, it establishes that the presiding judge did not authorise the access, meaning the entry was unauthorised regardless of any claim to the contrary. Second, it raises the additional point that even a presiding judge cannot unilaterally authorise overnight access to court premises and case files without the written consent of the Chief Judge, a procedural requirement that adds another layer of impropriety to the alleged conduct.
In what may prove to be the most consequential element of the press release, Alliyu disclosed that the Registrar, now at the State Criminal Investigation Bureau in Osogbo, has allegedly made what the senior advocate described as “useful confession to the police on the person who sent them.”
“This would interest the LPPC and LPDC on this type of gangsteristic commando action of a senior member of the Bar!” Alliyu stated, referring to the Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee, which confers the rank of Senior Advocate, and the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, which handles professional misconduct, suggesting that the alleged confession implicates a legal practitioner of sufficient seniority to warrant the attention of both bodies.
Alliyu’s reference to “the Oga patapata at the Ministry of Justice who allegedly sent them” suggests the alleged confession points to a senior official at the Osun State Ministry of Justice as the person who directed the JUSUN Chairman and the Registrar to enter the court premises and access the case file.
If this allegation is substantiated, it would transform the incident from a case of two individuals improperly accessing court premises into a potentially orchestrated conspiracy involving a senior government legal official directing the tampering with court records in a case involving government funds.
The senior advocate made several specific demands in his press release.
He called on the police not to be deterred by the JUSUN Chairman’s strike threat and blackmail but to pursue the investigation to its conclusion.
He urged that if the investigation discloses criminal conduct, the matter should be charged to the Federal High Court rather than the state courts, presumably to avoid any local influence on the proceedings and to ensure the case is heard in a court beyond the reach of whoever allegedly directed the break-in.
He called on the Chief Judge of Osun State not to be swayed by the JUSUN Chairman’s “campaign of calumny” but to treat the matter with the seriousness it deserves.
And he pointedly stated that the investigation should not spare “the Oga patapata at the Ministry of Justice who allegedly sent them,” making clear that he believes the trail of responsibility leads beyond the two individuals caught at the courthouse to a more senior figure in the state’s justice system.
The case file that was allegedly being removed concerns a UBA matter related to Federal Government allocation to local government councils, a category of case that typically involves significant sums of money and contentious questions about the distribution of public funds.
While Alliyu did not elaborate on the specifics of the case or explain why someone would want to access the file at night, the nature of the case, involving federal allocations and a major bank, suggests that the stakes are significant and that the alleged attempt to “work on” the file may have involved more than routine administrative activity.
The phrase “with a view to working on it” is particularly loaded, suggesting that the purpose was not merely to review the file but to make changes, additions, or alterations to its contents, though this interpretation, while consistent with the overall tone of Alliyu’s allegations, has not been confirmed by the police investigation.
Alliyu’s most serious institutional allegation is that the JUSUN Chairman is using the trade union and the threat of industrial action as a cover for criminal activity.
If a union leader can threaten to shut down all courts in a state to prevent the investigation of a crime in which he is implicated, it represents a fundamental abuse of trade union authority and a direct interference with the administration of justice.
JUSUN strikes have historically paralysed court operations across Nigeria, preventing cases from being heard, prisoners from being arraigned, and citizens from accessing justice. The use of such industrial action as leverage to obstruct a criminal investigation would represent a new and troubling dimension of union power in the judiciary.
The police investigation at the State Criminal Investigation Bureau in Osogbo is ongoing. The Registrar is reportedly cooperating and has made confessions that implicate a more senior figure.
The JUSUN Chairman’s alleged refusal to report back to the police as instructed could itself constitute an offence, as failure to comply with bail conditions is a basis for revocation of bail and arrest.
Whether the Chief Judge of Osun State takes action on the incident, whether the police pursue charges, and whether the matter is escalated to the Federal High Court as Alliyu demands, will determine whether the alleged midnight invasion of a courthouse results in accountability or is swept under the carpet of institutional silence.
For the judiciary, the allegation that court premises were invaded at night to access case files, with the possible involvement of a senior Ministry of Justice official, strikes at the very foundation of judicial integrity. If case files can be accessed, removed, or tampered with outside court hours by persons acting on external instructions, the security of every court record and the integrity of every judicial proceeding is compromised.
As Alliyu stated: “What a criminal effrontery!”
Interested buyers are encouraged to place their orders and enquiries via:
0704 444 4777, 0704 444 4999, 0818 199 9888
Website: www.alexandernigeria.com
The book, titled The Law of Torts in Nigeria: A Functional Approach, authored by Professor Hagler Sunny Okorie Ph.D and Ikeocha, Nathaniel Ngozi Esq, offers law students, practitioners, and academics a comprehensive guide to understanding and applying tort law in Nigerian courts. Interested buyers can place orders via the following contact numbers: 08028636615, 08037667945, 08032253813, or +234 902 196 2209.
_______________________________________________________________________
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR LAWYERS: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE
Reimagine your practice with the power of AI “...this is the only Nigerian book I know of on the topic.” — Ohio Books Ltd
Authored by Ben Ijeoma Adigwe, Esq., ACIArb (UK), LL.M, Dip. in Artificial Intelligence, Director, Delta State Ministry of Justice, Asaba, Nigeria.
Bonus:
Get a FREE eBook titled “How to Use the AI in Legalpedia and Law Pavilion” with every purchase.
How to Order: 📞 Call, Text, or WhatsApp: 08034917063 | 07055285878 📧 Email: benadigwe1@gmail.com 🌐 Website: www.benadigwe.com
Ebook Version: Access directly online at: https://selar.com/prv626
________________________________________________________________________ [A MUST HAVE] Evidence Act Demystified With Recent And Contemporary Cases And Materials
