Brigandage Shifting to the Courts?
The growing attacks on courts across the country by armed supporters of politicians has once again heightened fears that brigandage is gradually being extended to the judiciary.
Just on Monday, no fewer than 15 lawyers, among them a pregnant woman and two Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), escaped death in a stampede triggered by armed invasion of the Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, by suspected thugs over the suit between Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and Foster Ogola.
It took the deployment of armed policemen and sporadic shooting into the air to restore normalcy as the invaders fled the scene.
Also on Friday, December 5, 2014, suspected political thugs numbering up to 1,500 and wielding different types of dangerous weapons invaded the Ebonyi State Court complex in Abakaliki, the state capital, and disrupted proceedings in the various courts including attacking judges and judicial workers.
Suspected political thugs had on Monday, September 22, 2014, caused pandemonium at an Ekiti State High Court sitting at Ado-Ekiti, resulting in damage to government property.
On and on the list goes, making many to wonder if politicians are now exporting brigandage to the sacred chambers of the courts.
Such attacks are not only appalling but also clearly show the level of desperation among politicians and their supporters. Rather than uphold the sacredness of the court while their cases are being heard, the politicians who engineer these attacks have now turned the courts to a theatre for supremacy fight.
This must not continue. Well-meaning Nigerians must rise and condemn the ugly trend. Aggrieved parties must allow the judiciary do its work in an atmosphere devoid of harassment and intimidation.
