JUSUN Commences Indefinite Strike In Nasarawa

The Nasarawa State Chapter of the Judicial Staff Union of
Nigeria (JUSUN), has commenced an indefinite strike following the
failure of the state’s Chief Judge (CJ), Justice Suleiman Dikko, to
meet their demands on welfare issues.

Jimoh Musa, state chairman of the union, told newsmen on Tuesday
in Lafia, that the union was rejecting in total, the scraping of
the Customary Court of Appeal in the state.

Musa said the decision to embark on the strike was reached at a
congress because of the insensitivity and refusal of the CJ to
address their demands.

He explained that the National Judicial Commission (NJC), had
given three slots for the appointment of judges into the Customary
Court in 2018, but nothing was done to reopen the court up till
now.

He explained that the management of the judiciary in the state
were claiming that the government was taken to court therefore, no
further action could be taken.

“We reached a consensus that if the CJ did not meet our demands
that has been lingering, we will resume our suspended indefinite
strike.

“We have been too patient and have tried hard to avoid this last
resort but we have no choice but to press home our demands,” he
said.

Musa said that other grievances of the union included the none
conversion or promotion of workers, who went for further studies
legitimately, in the last four years.

He said that the union was also unhappy with the inordinate
reduction of workers’ salaries and the union had tried to resolve
the issue amicably but the management refused to listen.

The chairman said that their agitations had nothing to do with
the Gov. Tanko Almakura of Nasarawa State, because he had been
keeping faith with them, by providing all they wanted.

He advised members of the union to be calm, resolute and
determined to overcome the challenges ahead of them, until all
their demands were fully met.

Addressing the members at the State House of Assembly, Mr Ego
Maikeffi, Clerk of the House, expressed gratitude to the members
for their peaceful protest.

He then assured them that their message would be delivered to
the Speaker of the Assembly for prompt action.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the union staged a
peaceful protest at the High Court Headquarters, Lafia, and the
House of Assembly to present their grievances.

NAN also recalls that Abdulkareem Kana, the State
Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, recently said that
the government would reopen the court.

He then appealed to those who took the government to court over
the scraping of the Customary Court to withdraw the case, to enable
the government restructure and reopen the court.