Onnoghen: Lawyers boycott courts in Benue

Lawyers in Benue State on Tuesday complied with the boycott directive from the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) as they stayed away from court proceedings over the suspension of the embattled Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.

Our correspondent reports that the lawyers under the NBA in Otukpo and Makurdi respectively avoided court activities, leaving only handful management staff with public counsels rescheduling new dates for cases at the Makurdi High Court 1.

The Makurdi branch NBA chairman, Barrister Caleb Ishember, told newsmen in Makurdi that there was 80 percent compliance.

“In Makurdi branch, we can say that we complied 80 percent even though we know that few Justices and some management staff sat but we still complied and we are willing to comply tomorrow too.

“My view cannot be different from the one taken by my organization that is, NBA. Therefore, if the CJN is to be removed, it doesn’t lie on the mouth of the President. The President cannot just sit down and remove the Chief Justice of the Federation. It’s not as simple as that.

“Procedures must be followed inasmuch as you are fighting corruption. You cannot fight corruption illegally. The corruption must be fought with due process and anything short of that, is an infraction of Constitutional rights, not just the person but on the entire judiciary, NBA and before they know it, it would become an attack on the common man. This is because the lawyers are the mouthpiece of the common,” he said.

Similarly, a member of the NBA, Otukpo branch, Barrister George Abah, told our correspondent by telephone that there was total compliance in the area with the directive to boycott the courts.

Abah said, “we stayed away from the courts today.”