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19 April 2007

Mr. Sunday Ehindero
Inspector General of Police,
Police Force Headquarters
Louis Edet House, Abuja

Dear Inspector General,

Protest Over the Sealing-off of Ekiti State High Court Complex by Security Agents

We write to draw your attention to an issue of deep concern to Access to Justice involving the Nigeria Police Force. On Tuesday 17th April 2007, a combined team of mobile police and armed soldiers reportedly sealed off the premises of the Ekiti State High Court complex after ordering court staff and other people in the court buildings out of the premises. These security agents thereafter barricaded the entrance to the court premises and the major road leading to it and would not allow any one access to the court. No reasons or explanations were given for this action and no indications were given as to who ordered or authorized the action. This action has continued up till Wednesday, the 19th of April, and we are not sure when it will abate.

At least a case of notable public significance, instituted by the deputy governor of the State, Mrs. Abiodun Olujimi, challenging her impeachment was scheduled to be heard on 17th April, the first day the blockade started. Mrs. Olujinmi, along with other litigants, were denied access to the courts, and upon enquiry, she was reportedly informed that her suit was the reason for the barricade, perhaps to prevent the hearing.

Access to Justice is very concerned about the action of the security agencies because it gravely undermines the operations of a coordinate branch of government, and directly interferes with the exercise of rights of access to court. The right of recourse to courts of law is so well-entrenched in the Nigerian Constitution, and in treaties and undertakings binding on Nigeria, including the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  The sanctity of the courts and the inalienable right of access to them is fundamental, and is, in fact, the lifeblood of any system of constitutional democracy.

The Attorney General of Ekiti State, Gboyega Oyewole, in an advertorial published in The Guardian of today, confirmed “the deployment of security agents to the High Court Complex” but said they were there to “forestall sinister machinations of some evil elements to create an atmosphere of insecurity”. The way the High Court complex was barricaded does not substantiate the Attorney General’s explanations however. If there were indeed credible threats to the security of the court complex, there were less intrusive ways of dealing with those threats. Security agents could, for example, have increased surveillance over the court premises, and taken measures to ensure that those who were entering court premises did not carry harmful objects.

Sealing off the courts as your policemen did, (in company of armed soldiers) constitutes a gross abuse of the rights of citizens to judicial recourse, and gross disrespect for the rule of law. This action violates the constitutionally guaranteed independence of the judicial branch and negates all the important values enshrined in the United Nations Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary. One of those principles states “The judiciary shall decide matters before them impartially, on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law without any restrictions, improper influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interferences, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason.” (Italics added).

Access to Justice denounces this interference with the judicial process and requests that you call off the siege on the courts. Law enforcement agents ought to serve the rule of law, and defend the integrity and authority of rule of law institutions, such as courts, and not subvert the roles they play in a democracy.

You professed, after your appointment to your present office, to respect the rule of law, and adopted the slogan “to serve and protect with integrity”. Directing law enforcement agents to block access to courts of law clearly constitutes a disquieting and unfortunate departure from that commitment. We also note that under your watch, security agents are increasingly being used to attack important democratic values at this critical juncture in our life as a democracy and a country. We urge that you reaffirm your commitment to upholding human rights, and respecting the rule of law. We urge that you take necessary action against all those who may have authorized the wanton interference with the judicial process in Ekiti State, and commit yourself to seeing that incidents like this never happen again. Nobody should be denied access to the courts of justice; this is a cornerstone principle of our constitutional democracy.

Sincerely,

 

Joseph Otteh
Executive Director

 

 

Cc.

1. The Attorney General of the Federation/Minister for Justice

           Attorney General’s Chambers
           Ministry of Justice, Abuja

2. The Chief of Army Staff

          Defence Headquarters, Abuja

3. The Chief of Defence Staff

           Defence Headquarters, Abuja

4. The National Judicial Council

           Supreme Court Complex
           Three Arms Zone, Abuja
 

5. The Chief Judge of Ekiti State

           Ekiti State Judiciary Headquarters
           Ado-Ekiti

UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of the Judges and Lawyers

c/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human rights
United nations Office at Geneva
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneva 10,
Switzerland