Lawyers and litigants were left stranded Monday morning as members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) locked the gates of the Federal High Court in Abuja, making good on their threat to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike.
A human rights lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, confirmed the disruption in a Facebook post seen by SaharaReporters, lamenting that legal proceedings had been abruptly grounded due to the industrial action.
“Federal High Court gate locked. We can’t go in for our matter this morning because of industrial action by judiciary workers,” he wrote.
This action follows a series of deadlocked negotiations and mounting frustration among court workers over unpaid allowances and poor welfare conditions.
SaharaReporters reported on Sunday that the Federal High Court chapter of JUSUN was proceeding with the strike despite the Supreme Court chapter pulling out.
A JUSUN executive told SaharaReporters exclusively on Sunday evening that the strike would proceed as scheduled, noting that a four-hour meeting held earlier that day failed to produce a positive outcome.
“Strike continues even as the Supreme Court and National Judicial Council pulled out of the strike. We had a meeting with the Director General of the DSS (Department of State Services) and the Director of Operations at their headquarters, which lasted for 4 hours,” the source said.
“Resolutions were not reached as another meeting is slated at the instance of the CJN (Chief Justice of Nigeria) with all stakeholders that matter, including the DSS.”
The source added that the status quo would remain in place until further directives were issued.
Similarly, Comrade Mohammed Isah, Secretary of JUSUN SCA, in a brief message on Sunday, stated, “We are just out of the meeting with the necessary stakeholders but JUSUN insisted that strike should continue.
“All staff should remain at home till further notice as another meeting will take place tomorrow as the strike is ongoing.”
SaharaReporters had also reported that the Supreme Court chapter of JUSUN had firmly stated it would not join the industrial action.
This decision was reached following an emergency meeting of the chapter’s executive members, held at the Supreme Court complex on May 31.
According to the union, the unique circumstances of the Supreme Court and its ongoing engagements make it impractical to participate in the strike, which was initiated by their colleagues in lower courts across the country.