There may be mass arrest of protesting lawyers in Ondo State with effect from today, as their boycott of all courts under the state’s juridiction enters the fourth week.
Lawyers from all branches of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Ondo are demanding the withdrawal of tax clearance as a compulsory condition for bail.
Judicial proceedings in the state’s courts have remained on standstill, as the lawyers have also directed litigants to stay away from courts.
It was learnt that the intervention of eminent lawyers and judges to resolve the matter had failed due to the insistence of the Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Olaseinde Kumuyi, on implementing his circular
The CJ reportedly informed some lawyers he met on the premises of the High Court, Akure last week that as from today, any protesting lawyer found in the court would be arrested.
Already, armed soldiers in two vans were noticed at the gate of the High Court, Akure on Friday around 3p.m. But their mission could not be ascertained.
The CJ’s circular makes production of tax clearance a mandatory bail condition.
Last week, the crisis reportedly assumed a new dimension when chairmen of three NBA branches petitioned the National Judicial Council (NJC) on the boycott and refusal of the chief judge to withdraw the circular which they alleged was unconstitutional and an act of interference on the just determination of cases by courts.
Piqued by the petition, the CJ was said to have stayed away from the NBA Law Week held last week. But judges from the Federal High Court, Industrial Court and Court of Appeal witnessed the events.
Ironically, Governor Olusegun Mimiko reportedly sent his Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Eyitayo Jegede (SAN) to participate in all the events.
A source at the High Court said:” When it became glaring that lawyers would not call off their action, some judges of High Court sat to hear cases. Some of the judges sent hearing notice to lawyers to appear before them. The lawyers and litigants were said to have shun the hearing notice and stayed away.”
It was learnt that two High Court judges who sat last Friday were embarrassed when no lawyer and litigants turned up. But they consequently read their judgments in the absence of parties and their counsel.
At the Bar dinner marking the end of the Law Week, NBA Akure Branch Chairman Lawrence Dare said lawyers could not be intimidated by the latest threat of arrest.
According to him, the boycott of court would continue until the CJ withdraw his circular.
The Association of Catholic Lawyers (ACL) has called on all stakeholders to immediately intervene to save the justice system in Ondo State from imminent collapse.
A statement issued in Akure by its President, Charles Titiloye, decried the crisis rocking the state judiciary as a result of the controversial circular by the CJ
Titiloye noted that even during the military regime era, condition of bail was not imposed on court as judges were allowed to exercise their discretion.
He said: “With N75,000 tax clearance attached as a condition of every court bail in the state, bail is no longer free. Our courts will cease to be the last hope of the poor and oppressed common man”.
Titiloye said something urgently must be done to protect the independence of courts and redirect it to provide justice for all and sundry.
The Nations
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