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Judges, lawyers, court staff and litigants have been locked out of the Federal High Court (FHC) headquarters in Abuja, as members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) commenced an indefinite strike on Monday.
The court complex, located along Shehu Shagari Way, has all its entrances to the building locked, effectively shutting down all activities within and around the premises.
The strike also affected other key courts in the federal capital territory (FCT). The court of appeal in Abuja and the FCT high court were similarly shut, leaving litigants and legal practitioners stranded.
The industrial action follows a directive from JUSUN’s national body, which instructed all chapter chairmen to enforce a stay-at-home order starting from midnight on June 1.
“This directive follows unfruitful meetings in the instance of the minister of labour and employment, who was conciliating on our matter,” reads a circular dated May 30 and signed by M.J. Akwashiki, JUSUN’s acting national secretary.
“We believe that as directed by the organs of the union, National Working Committee (NWC) and National Executive Council (NEC) of our great union, the action will continue until further notice.
“Our demands are for the government to pay us 5 months’ wage award, implement the N70,000 national minimum wage, as well as the 25/35 percent salary increase. Solidarity forever.”
However, judiciary workers under the National Judicial Council (NJC) and in the supreme court pulled out of the planned strike.
In a statement on Saturday signed by Joel Ebiloma, spokesperson for JUSUN, NJC chapter, the council said following the directive to embark on a strike, a series of meetings were held.
Ebiloma said the meetings were between JUSUN of various federal judicial bodies, minister of labour, and other stakeholders in the judiciary.
He said it was resolved that the NJC give the labour minister and other critical stakeholders two weeks to address the issues with the office of the accountant-general of the federation.
“In the light of the above, we wish to state clearly that the NJC JUSUN hereby directs all staff to come to the office on Monday,” the statement reads.
