Blessing Okorite, Port Harcourt
Members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), in Rivers State, on Wednesday, clashed with suspected agents of a major political party while trying to disrupt proceedings of the Court of Appeal sitting, in Port Harcourt.
In the end, the suspected party agents beat some of the lawyers to stupor.
The lawyers had taken their protest to the court in respect of the directives of their national body that NBA members should boycott court activities, following the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen by President Muhammadu Buhari, but received the beating of their lives from thugs who claimed to be litigants.
The Appellate Court in Port Harcourt had adjourned till Wednesday, to hear the motion of Stay of Execution on the judgment of a Federal High Court, which barred the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Rivers State from fielding candidates for the 2019 elections.
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The adjourned date coincided with the two-day boycott of court proceedings declared by national body of the NBA over the Justice Walter Onnoghen saga.
When the Court resumed, on Wednesday, to commence hearing, the NBA in Rivers State, led by its chairman, Sylvester Adaka, arrived with placards in protest that the proceedings should stop.
The NBA protesters were halted by the Judge of the court, who said protest into a court room was unethical, urging the protesters to sit and express their grievances.
The presiding judge in the APC matter, Justice A.A Gumel, however, cautioned the manner of the lawyers in the protest, stating that lawyers who were ministers of the court which is the temple of justice should not desecrate it by turning the courts into a public square, where lawyers would carry placards to disrupt court proceedings.
Gumel said the court was only going to take records of processes but would hear motions at an adjourned date.
But when members of the NBA insisted that the day’s sitting be adjourned, some party supporters, who were in court, attacked the NBA chairman and other lawyers who were with him, beating them to stupor, while insisting that the proceedings must continue.
Upon seeing the dimension of the festering crisis, Justice Gumel, however, adjourned all appeals till January 31, 2019 for hearing of motion on notice.
Meanwhile, speaking on the incident, Justice Gumel said it was unethical for the Bar to attempt to disrupt the sitting of the Bench, adding that court ought to be respected.
Gumel said, “You have seen people barged into our proceeding. This is incivility. We will not be intimidated. We will do our work. We are here to do a solemn job and we will give justice.
“The bar is entitled to respect the bench and the bench should carry the bar along. If the ethical behaviours handed to us by our fathers are maintained we will make headway.”
“It is about all the courts and administration of justice and not just the Appeal Court in Rivers State.”
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On his part, NBA branch Chairman, Sylvester Adaka explained, “Today we were continuing our peaceful boycott of courts as directed by our national secretariat and national executive committee in our meeting of Monday, January 28, 2019.
“While we were at the court of appeal, I peacefully addressed the justices of the court of appeal to rise in continuation of our peaceful boycott of the court and also appealed to lawyers to leave the court premises.
“But while we were there in court, a couple of thugs in the court premises attacked the lawyers there, the thugs zeroed in on me and and a couple of lawyers.
“If not for the intervention of my colleagues around, I don’t know what would have happened.
“The court was sitting and continued sitting even after the attack on us and we felt that in an atmosphere that was charged like that, the court should have at least reasoned to allow tempers cool.”
