NBA Chairman Escapes Contempt Charge For Disrupting Court Proceedings
The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja Branch, Dele Oloke on Wednesday escaped from being charged for contempt of court for disrupting the proceedings at the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja in his attempt to enforce the boycott order of the courts.
Oloke, who was in company of some members of the branch had stormed the Special Offences Court where Justice Sherifat Solebo was sitting over a matter with the intention of sending out lawyers in the court.
But the action of the lawyer and his team to enforce the two days boycott order made by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) to protest against the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen by the federal government, led to a heated exchange of words between him and Justice Solebo.
Justice Solebo, who cautioned Oloke against interrupting proceedings before her warned, “I would not entertain any interruption in my court.
“We know the rules of court, Mr Oloke be properly guided”, Justice Solebo said.
The judge further stated: “The National Judicial Council (NJC) has not directed that judges should not sit, neither has the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) shut the door.
“I am still in charge of this court, Mr Oloke. What you are doing is contemptuous,” Justice Solebo said.
At this stage, Prince Oloke turned to lawyers in the courtroom and reminded them that the directive of the NBA was still in force and urged them to comply and to leave the courtroom.
In spite of his stance on the boycott, lawyers in the matter stayed back to continue the proceedings.
The NBA taskforce was also unable to stop the proceedings at Justice Abiola Soladoye’s courtroom of Ikeja Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Court.
The judge had concluded proceedings and was about to rise for the day when the task force arrived her court.
The proceedings of Justice Mojisola Dada of a Special Offences Court could also not be stopped by Oloke and the task force because the judge was delivering a judgment at the time they got there.
Most of the judges at the Ikeja High Court adjudicated over cases in their dockets while litigants and counsels appeared before them.
It was also ‘business as usual’ at Justice Candide-Johnson court house, at the Ikorodu division of the court as lawyers and litigants went about their businesses peacefully.