[TRENDING VIDEO] Lawyers shut Enugu court over judges’ prolonged absence from physical sittings
Lawyers from Nsukka and Obollo-Afor in Enugu State on Tuesday sealed off the High Court in Obollo-Afor in protest against the continued absence of judges from physical court sittings in the area.
The legal practitioners said judges posted to judicial divisions in Enugu North Senatorial District have, for years, relied on virtual proceedings, citing security concerns as the reason for avoiding physical court appearances.
On June 3, lawyers in the district had marched through major streets in Nsukka to protest what they described as the abandonment of courtrooms following the introduction of virtual hearings.
They also accused the Enugu State judiciary of creating delays by transferring active case files from local divisions to Enugu, the state capital.
The protests affected all five judicial divisions in the zone, including Nsukka, Obollo-Afor, Enugu-Ezike, Ogbede and Umulokpa.
On Tuesday, the lawyers escalated their action by shutting down the High Court in Obollo-Afor to press home their demands.
THE COMMUNIQUÉ
In a communiqué jointly issued by the Nsukka and Obollo-Afor branches of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the lawyers accused Afojulu Raymond Ozoemena, chief judge of Enugu State, of ignoring their concerns as well as those of court staff in Enugu North Senatorial District over prolonged virtual hearings.
The NBA branches alleged that High Court judges assigned to the district have not held physical sittings for more than three years.
The association said lawyers had already embarked on a boycott of High Court proceedings in the district for over two weeks following the June 3, 2026 protest against the continued use of virtual hearings.
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