The ongoing indefinite strike by the Coalition of Magistrates, Presidents of Grade ‘A’ Customary Courts, and the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN, Ondo State chapter, is said to have crippled the justice system in the state.
One of the aggrieved judiciary workers, Mr Jamiu Bamidele, made the remark in a statement on Tuesday.
Recall that the Judicial workers on Monday last week, shut down operation statewide, following the inability of Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to approve their financial autonomy.
The workers are also accusing the government of paying no attention to the plight of workers, lamenting poor welfare.
A check on Monday January 12 showed that courts are still under lock and key as the union barred workers from attending to issues until their demands are met.
Bamidele, in the statement on Tuesday, stated that hundreds of citizens are now languishing in “overcrowded police cells and correctional facilities in Akure and beyond” due to the ongoing strike.
According to him, the citizens have been denied the “right to arraignment or bail”
“This is not due process, it is state-sanctioned incarceration where the innocent are buried alive in a system that has ceased to breathe,” he added.
Bamidele accused the Attorney General of the state, Kayode Ajulo, SAN and the Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Omowumi Isaac, of strangling the judicial arm of government.
He accused the commissioner of being used by the Executive to “dodge responsibilities, rescind approvals, delay files, alter established disbursement protocols and create an illusion of penury by the executive”.
“It is an act of institutional vandalism by the Executive branch. By starving the third arm of the government of its constitutionally mandated financial autonomy, the state government has effectively declared war on its own citizens,” Bamidele added.
Justice dead in Ondo – Judicial worker laments impact of indefinite strike
