Members of the Nigerian Bar Association, Osogbo branch, on
Thursday locked out the Chief Judge of Osun State, Mrs. Adepele Ojo, during
their protest against the hike in filing fees in courts across the state.
The lawyers said the state government unilaterally increased
the fee for writ of summons from N4,000 to N40,000, while a divorce petition
fee was upped from N3,000 to N25,000.
Oath was reportedly increased from N200 to N1,000.
Based on the increment, the lawyers started picketing courts
across the state since Monday and the CJ, while coming to the state High Court,
Osogbo, on Thursday, met the main gate locked.
The lawyers, who were monitoring the gate, refused to allow
the CJ’s vehicle into the court premises despite pleas from some judicial
officers around.
The Chief Registrar, Mr. Lawrence Arojo, appealed to the
lawyers, but they remained adamant.
He said they ought to have explored every mechanism of
addressing such issues before resorting to closure of the court’s gates.
One of the lawyers told our correspondent on the telephone
that a meeting which the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Gboyega Oyetola,
held with the leadership of the NBA, ended in a stalemate.
The lawyer said Oyetola asked the lawyers to first open the
court before negotiation, adding that the NBA insisted that the government must
reverse the increment first.
The lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The
Chief of Staff held a meeting with us and he said we should open the gates. But
we told him that the government should also reverse the increment for just two
weeks and we could talk.
“The two parties did not agree on anything and the gates
will remain locked for as long as it takes to get justice on the matter.
0 Comments