NIGERIA: Members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Monday, began a nationwide strike to demand the implementation of the national minimum wage and salary increase.
The strike paralysed activities across the courts, reports The Nation.
In a May 30 circular, JUSUN’s national body, through its acting National Secretary, M. J. Akwashiki, had asked all its chapters’ chairmen to, effective from midnight Sunday, June 1, direct all their members to stay at home.
In Lagos, the Federal High Court (FHC) workers were directed to return home by JUSUN officials who were seen around court premises.
Staff members of the FHC in Lagos, as well as lawyers, litigants, and journalists, who arrived at the court, were denied access.
Even food vendors at the court premises were directed to return home.
In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, judges, lawyers, and litigants at the Federal High Court, Court of Appeal, and National Industrial Court were locked out by protesting JUSUN members.
A JUSUN official at the National Industrial Court, who craved anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan that their salary was no longer enough as a result of the current economic situation in the country.
He said the workers were seriously suffering while judges in the courts did not see them as part of them.
According to the official, several steps taken to ensure their demands were met have been unsuccessful.
In Edo State, the strike paralysed activities at the Federal High Court in Benin, the state capital.
The entrance to the court was under lock and key as the workers stayed away from work.
A staff member, who was chased away from her duty post, said she resumed work but was told to leave the court premises due to the strike.
Other workers refused to comment on the strike and whether or not they would resume work.
In Abuja, the strike paralysed activities at the Court of Appeal, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Courts in Maitama, Wuse Zone II, Garki, and Nyanya.
JUSUN Chairman in the FCT High Courts, Abdulrazaq Yusuf, said the strike had begun.
Our correspondent who visited some of the courts in some state capitals reported that offices and court halls were under lock and key.
But at the Supreme Court in Abuja, business activities were going on unhindered and courts were also sitting.
Besides, at the NJC, the office was not shut down as a result of the industrial action.
JUSUN National President Marwan Adamu said there was no division in the leadership of the union.
On why the workers at the Supreme Court and NJC refused to join the strike, Adamu said: “There are leaders of the JUSUN chapter at the Supreme Court. You should have asked them. They are in a position to tell you why they are not complying.
“We have agreed to go on a strike. It is not an individual matter; it is a decision of the organ.
“If one of the organs is not complying, they must tell you why they are not complying.”
