Funke Busari, Lagos
Temporary reprieve appears to have come the way of litigants, lawyers and judges following the suspension of the judicial workers strike as court proceedings held in some court rooms on Tuesday.
CASEFILE found out that judges, such as Justices Oluwatoyin Dada, Hakeem Oshodi, Josephine Oyefeso and Sherifat Solebo held proceedings in the Lagos State High Court, in Ikeja.
At the Special Offences court, Honourable Justice Dada proceedings in Lagos State and Samuel Shokunbi in Suit Number ID 9110C/19 was stalled while two cases between the Federal Government versus Esiku Destiny and Federal Government versus Onoriode Godwin were absent.
As at 9:55 a.m when the judge walked into the courtroom from her chamber to hear matters, a Police prosecution witness was in court but defendants were not brought from custody.
However, the absence of the defendants, had the matters adjourned till tomorrow and the next.
All the matters were adjourned as the Deputy Director, State Prosecution and Defence Counsel packed their files and walked out as soon as Justice Dada retired into her chamber at 10:03.a.m.
As Justice Oshodi walked into the courtroom at 11:11a.m, the case of Alexandra George was called, trial could not go on due to absence of State witnesses, though a court registrar informed the judge that the prison authority brought the warrant to court, hence the judge adjourned the case till June 24, 2021.
In the matter between State versus Alhaji Abdul Rauf Tijjani and Akanni Suada, the first defendant whose bail had been revoked for failing to appear for defence in a two-year long trial, the Prosecution told the judge it is still working to track the first defendant and bring him to court.
Recall that courts across Nigeria had been under lock and key since April 6 and only resumed this morning after Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria demanded that state governments grant financial freedom to the judiciary.
