JUSUN Strike: Judiciary Workers Illegally Issue Affidavits Amidst Strike

Courts across the country have been officially closed for over
seven weeks due to the ongoing strike of the Judiciary Staff Union
of Nigeria, JUSUN. The workers shut down the courts since April 6
in agitation for financial independence of the judiciary.

However, in spite of the court closure, Premium
Times^[1], not
Nairalaw, reports that corrupt court officials in
connivance with touts are illegally issuing affidavits at high
fees.

Premium Times says on May 11 its reporter inserted himself in
the curious scenes playing out around the High Court premises in
Kubwa, a satellite town of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
Abuja

”You are welcome sir,” they chorused, as they swarmed towards
our reporter. They asked if he needed an affidavit and he said
yes.

He was then led by a man to a woman seated in a car parked
beside a tree providing a shield for a group of people.

A fee of N1,000 was agreed with the woman. She asked if the
Premium Times correspondent if he had obtained a police report, but
did not wait for an answer before saying it was not necessary.

The man informed the reporter that he would have to backdate the
Affidavit. Writing the true date on the affidavit would give the
document away as having been “illegally” issued during the strike
when court was officially closed, he explained

The reporter agreed. Even though the day was May 11, the
affidavit was backdated to April 1. The fee of N1,000 was paid
before the affidavit was handed over to the reporter.

Similar thing played out in the Sharia Court of Appeal, in the
Bwari Area Council of the FCT, officials were seen issuing
affidavits in the middle of the ongoing strike

When the findings was shared with him, Jimoh Musa, who is the
National Treasurer of JUSUN and top official of the Nasarawa State
High Court, said “Those court officials involved are mischievous
and desperate. I have warned them against it because their jobs are
at stake,”

He added that, “For an ordinary person to issue affidavits with
the oath stamps, means there is a connivance with the officers in
charge for oath.”

Courts across the country have been officially closed for over
seven weeks due to the ongoing strike of the Judiciary Staff Union
of Nigeria, JUSUN. The workers shut down the courts since April 6
in agitation for financial independence of the judiciary.

However, in spite of the court closure, Premium
Times^[1], not
Nairalaw, reports that corrupt court officials in
connivance with touts are illegally issuing affidavits at high
fees.

Premium Times says on May 11 its reporter inserted himself in
the curious scenes playing out around the High Court premises in
Kubwa, a satellite town of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
Abuja

”You are welcome sir,” they chorused, as they swarmed towards
our reporter. They asked if he needed an affidavit and he said
yes.

He was then led by a man to a woman seated in a car parked
beside a tree providing a shield for a group of people.

A fee of N1,000 was agreed with the woman. She asked if the
Premium Times correspondent if he had obtained a police report, but
did not wait for an answer before saying it was not necessary.

The man informed the reporter that he would have to backdate the
Affidavit. Writing the true date on the affidavit would give the
document away as having been “illegally” issued during the strike
when court was officially closed, he explained

The reporter agreed. Even though the day was May 11, the
affidavit was backdated to April 1. The fee of N1,000 was paid
before the affidavit was handed over to the reporter.

Similar thing played out in the Sharia Court of Appeal, in the
Bwari Area Council of the FCT, officials were seen issuing
affidavits in the middle of the ongoing strike

When the findings was shared with him, Jimoh Musa, who is the
National Treasurer of JUSUN and top official of the Nasarawa State
High Court, said “Those court officials involved are mischievous
and desperate. I have warned them against it because their jobs are
at stake,”

He added that, “For an ordinary person to issue affidavits with
the oath stamps, means there is a connivance with the officers in
charge for oath.”