See How Hoodlums chase judge, lawyers out of Ekiti court

 

HOODLUMS, on Monday, invaded the premises of the High Court in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital and engaged themselves in a free-for-all.

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The judge, Justice Isaac Ogunyemi, had earlier in the day delivered a ruling in a suit on the eligibility of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Ayo Fayose, to contest the June 21 governorship election in the state.
Justice Ogunyemi had ruled on the preliminary objection on the jurisdiction of his court to hear the substantive suit challenging the eligibility of Fayose in the said election.
The hoodlums, numbering about a hundred, tore down branches of a tree within the environment of the court to serve as weapons and attacked those they perceived as opponents in the matter who had come to attend proceedings.
The judge had sought a brief break to resume sitting on the matter at 12 noon, after he had given the ruling.
Some of the hoodlums had earlier engaged the security officials in the courtroom in argument, over what they claimed was “partiality on their part on the numbers of those allowed entry into the courtroom.”
According to them, “the security had barred our party men from entering the courtroom while the hearing lasted, but had allowed the opposition unfettered access.”
The argument soon snowballed into a full scale confrontation, as they attacked and dealt blows on perceived enemies, using all manner of objects.
Judges, Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), lawyers, journalists, court officials and magistrates had to run for their lives, hiding in offices and court registries under chairs, tables, other places and objects which could serve as temporary hideouts, as the hoodlums engaged themselves.
Justice Ogunyemi soon became a target, as the hoodlums openly condemned his ruling, saying it was partial.
It took the intervention of a team from the special anti-riot squad to save the judge, who was ferried to safety from his office.
Before his escape from the court premises at about 12.55 p.m., Justice Ogunyemi had declared that he had jurisdiction to entertain the cases of the Citizens Popular Party (CPP) and that of Adeniyi Ajakaye and others, which challenged the eligibility of Fayose to contest the June 21 election.
In a ruling on the preliminary objection of Fayose and PDP, Justice Ogunyemi held that the respondent had not judiciously discharged the responsibility under the law of evidence to furnish the court with sufficient evidence upon which the relief sought by the defendant applicant could be based.
Ogunyemi also declared both the CPP and the PDP as non-juristic persons who could not sue or be sued. He, however, submitted that striking out the names of the second claimant and second defendant did not affect the relief sought by the claimant on eligibility pursuant to order 13, Rule 16 (1) of the High Court Civil Procedure Rules of Ekiti State.
He also dismissed the application of the respondent, which challenged his ruling of June 6 in an ex parte application on the abridgment of time within which the respondent could file his reply, declaring that the said order the defendant sought to set aside was not obtained fraudulently as contended by the defendants.
Reacting, the state PDP publicity secretary, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, in a statement said “the PDP also condemned the barbaric action of the APC thugs who attacked voters that voluntarily voted for Fayose in the last governorship election.”
But the APC denied that its members were at the proceedings, saying it had no matter in court.
Speaking for the party,  its interim chairman in the state, Chief Jide Awe, said “we are back to Idi Amin era in Ekiti, where judges and lawyers are being attacked in the face of the court. This is terrible.”
According to him, “the APC has no case in the court and we were not there to witness the attack.