Invasion Of Court By DSS And Lagos State Task Force: CJN, AGF, NBA, Others Should Consult On Steps To Protect Judges Says Adegboruwa SAN

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a Human Rights Lawyer, Mr. Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa commends the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association for its prompt response to the court invasion by the DSS.

He describes the statement issued by the NBA as “encouraging and timely” because it is what is expected and such conforms with the main objective of the NBA which is to promote the rule of law.

The learned silk, therefore, made suggestions for the following further steps:

1. A meeting with the CJN and AGF to consult on possible steps to be taken to protect judges and the courts from further invasion. As it was happening in Abuja, so also was it happening in the federal high court in Lagos, where it was reported that members of the Lagos State Environmental Task Force stormed the court and even stabbed an officer of the court.
The purpose of this meeting is to secure the courts with a functional police post as is done in the National Assembly and even houses of assembly of the states.

2. To ensure that the DSS is made to account for the events of December 6, 2019.

3. To also meet with the leadership of the National Assembly, the Committees on Judiciary and Human Rights and Law Enforcement with a view to getting the DSS to be brought to book.

4. To demand the immediate disengagement of the present leadership of the DSS and all its officers involved in the invasion

5. To meet with the AG of Lagos State to unravel the invasion of Lagos court and bring those involved to book.

6. To visit CJ of Federal High Court and Hon Jus Ojukwu for solidarity and consultations.

He further suggested that the counsel involved in such cases for the government should henceforth be held accountable for any breach of the rule of law by the government and its officers and agencies. The Attorneys-General of States should be referred to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) for disobedience to court orders or brazen infraction of the Constitution in their respective states and if such an AG is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, he should also be referred to the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC). He suggested that the same should happen to the Attorney General of the Federation when it involves the federal government and its agencies.