Enugu Lawyers Protest Continuation Of Virtual Court Proceedings As NBA Branches Shut Down Courts Due To Judges’ Refusal To Sit Physically

Lawyers in Enugu North District on Tuesday protested the continuing of online sittings by High Court judges in the district for the past two years.

The lawyers gathered at Nsukka and Obollo-Afor high courts as early as 7:30 a.m. in their numbers and blocked the road leading to the courts with their vehicles, while chanting solidarity songs.

Addressing reporters during the protest, Sonny Okoro, chairperson, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Nsukka branch, flanked by Desmond Ezema, NBA chairperson of Obollo-Afor branch and other lawyers, said that they resorted to a peaceful protest to let the Enugu State Government and the public know that normal court system had not been working in Enugu North District for over two years.

Mr Okoro explained that, for over two years, high court judges in the district have claimed that insecurity has not allowed them to appear physically in courts.

“For the past two years, high court judges have not been appearing physically in courts in the Nsukka zone. They resort to visual sitting from Enugu, the state capital.

“We have no problem with virtual proceedings of the court because it is recognised by law, but our problem is that high courts in the district have no facilities for visual proceedings.

“That is why most times the judges use the court clerk’s mobile phone or one old computer system as a visual facility to connect Nsukka court and the judge who is staying in Enugu.”

The NBA chairperson noted that the same judges who are scared of insecurity along the Enugu-Ugwogonike-Opi Nsukka Road, now direct lawyers to bring their litigants and witnesses to Enugu to appear at apartments rented to serve as courts.

“Are lawyers, litigants and witnesses immune from insecurity on the Enugu-Nsukka Road which the judges are avoiding?

“This present situation has prolonged cases and denied people access to justice as well as made litigants incur additional costs in traveling from Nsukka to Enugu in order to have their cases heard.

“We are surprised that judges are citing insecurity when other residents of Enugu State use the same road on a daily basis.

“We know that Governor Peter Mbah has beefed up security on that road by deploying armored tanks and many security checkpoints on that road,” he said.

Speaking further, Mr Okoro explained that the NBA had written several letters to some concerned officials in judiciary in the state, especially the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice Raymond Ozoemena, to restore normalcy in high courts in the district but all to no avail.

“NBA has written so many letters to this effect to the Enugu Chief Judge, and in our last letter to him in December 2023, we stated that lawyers will resort to a protest if by January 2024 the situation did not improve.

“We urge the Enugu State Government to intervene by ensuring that normal court proceedings should resume in High Courts in Enugu North Senatorial District.

“If after this protest, judges do not resume physical court sitting, lawyers in the district will start boycotting court proceedings,” he said.

Also speaking, Mr Ezema, the chairperson, NBA Obollo-Afor branch, confirmed that lawyers and litigants in the district have been facing difficulties for the past two years because of the non-physical appearance of High Court judges

Mr Ezema appealed to the judiciary and the Enugu State Government to intervene in the matter and restore normal court activities in the district.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the protests were happening simultaneously in high courts at Nsukka and Obollo-Afor. (NAN)