JUDICIARY
Enugu NBA Urges JUSUN to call off Strike, Calls for Dialogue
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Enugu State chapter, has called on members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN)to call off their ongoing strike.The NBA Chairman in Enugu, Mr Jude Ezegwui, made the called on Wednesday in an interview in Enugu.
While sympathising with JUSUN in its struggle, the chairman said that the timing of the strike be reconsidered. ”We are trying to catch up with the backlog of cases as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown and other issues. “This is not the best time to embark on strike because it is the poor masses that will suffer the consequences,”he said.The chairman therefore, appealed to the state government to implement what they already agreed with JUSUN and obey Order 10 and various court judgments to ensure that the autonomy of the Judiciary is ensured.“The document which was agreed upon should be implemented and government should also play their role in that document.“With ongoing negotiation, I am optimistic that the matter will soon be resolved,”Ezegwui said. JUSUN on March 13, issued a 21-day ultimatum to the government which elapsed on Sunday, April 4.The union ordered its members across the federation to shut all courts to press home their demand for implementation of financial autonomy for the judiciary.NAN reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, on May 22, 2020 signed into law an Executive Order to grant financial autonomy to the legislature and the judiciary across the 36 states of the country.The order also mandates the accountant-general of the federation to deduct from source amount due to state legislatures and judiciaries from the monthly allocation to each state for states that refuse to grant such autonomy.NAN reports that the order, made it mandatory that all states of the federation should include the allocations of both the legislature and the judiciary in the first-line charge of their budgets.
A Presidential Implementation Committee was constituted to fashion out strategies and modalities for the implementation of financial autonomy for the State Legislature and State Judiciary in compliance with section 121(3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as Amended). (NAN)
JUDICIARY
Court Remands Landlord for Alleged Defilement of Tenant’s Daughter
A family court sitting at Iyaganku, Ibadan, on Tuesday ordered the remand of one Musibau Lamidi, 50, for alleged defilement of his tenant’s six-year-old daughter.
The Magistrate, Mrs S. A . Adesina, ordered that the landlord should be kept at the Agodi custodial facility pending advice from Oyo State Director of Public Prosecutions.
Adesina did not take the landlord’s plea.
She adjourned the case until April 25 for mention.
Reports says that Musibau, a resident of Olode, Ibadan, was charged on one-count of defilement.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp Gbemisola Adedeji, told the court that the defendant, on March 13, between 8. 00 a.
m. and 4.00 p.m. defiled his tenant’s daughter.Adedeji said that Musibau had an issue with the child’s mother and asked her to pack out.
The prosecutor said that when the woman went to look for a house to rent, the defendant defiled her daughter.
She said that the offence contravened Section 34 of the Oyo State Child Right’s
Law of 2006. (NAN)
JUDICIARY
4 Friends Docked for Allegedly Threatening Cleric’s Life
Four friends were on Monday docked in a Grade ‘A’ Customary Court in Ibadan for allegedly threatening the life of pastor Charles Gold.
The police charged Olatunji Musibau, 44;Abiodun Folarin, 50; Kazeem Oluremi, 60 and Yusuf Sodiq, 23, with conspiracy and conduct likely to cause breach of peace.
The Prosecution Counsel, Mr Philip Amusan, told the court that the defendants allegedly committed the offence on March 8, at about 2 p.
m., at New Bodija Area in Ibadan.Amusan alleged that the defendants and others at large, threatened violence against pastor Gold, of Echo Evangelical Ministry Ibadan.
He said the offence contravened the probisions of sections 516 and 383 of the Criminal Laws of Oyo State, 2000.
The defendants however pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The Court President, Mrs Moji Aworemi, admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N150, 000 each and one surety each in like sum.
Aworemi held that the surety must be a blood relation to the defendants.
She adjourned the case until April 29, for mention. (NAN)
JUDICIARY
2 Teenagers in Court for Allegedly Stealing Sewing Machine
Two teenagers, Simor Aaron, 19, and Francis David, 18, were arraigned on Wednesday before a Kaduna Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly stealing a sewing machine and other items worth N325,000.
The defendants, both residents of High-Cost Narayi, Kaduna, are standing trial on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing, to which they pleaded not guilty.
The Prosecutor, Insp Chidi Leo, told the court that the defendants committed the offences on March 11, at Barnawa Kaduna.
According to Leo, the duo burgled a tailoring shop of one Gladys Peter and stole her sewing machine, six wrappers, and four clothing materials all valued at N325,000.
The prosecutor stated that the defendants were caught and handed over to the police by members of the vigilante group on patrol in the area.
Leo said that the offences contravened Sections 281 and 217 of the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017, which stipulates a three-year jail term for stealing and two years imprisonment for conspiracy.
The Magistrate, Ibrahim Emmanuel, granted the defendants bail in the sum of N100,000 each with two sureties each in like sum, who must be gainfully employed.
Emmanuel adjourned the case until April 22, for hearing. (NAN)