By Ishaya Ibrahim
Nigerians have expressed outrage over atrending video clip which shows a personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps barring the former acting Chief Judge of Kebbi State, Elizabeth Karatu, from gaining access to a courtroom.
The judge, who was billed to retire on July 5, was supposed to rule on cases on July 4, her last day in office. But she was denied access to her courtroom over undisclosed reasons.
Until her retirement on July 5, Karatu, a Christian, was the acting chief judge of Kebbi State, a Muslim dominated State. She was denied confirmation as the susbtantive chief judge after her appointment in October 2018 because according to the state government, her primary school certificate was fake.
But she petitioned the National Judicial Council, accusing the government of Kebbi State of denying her the position of the chief judge on the basis of her religious belief.
Mrs Karatu was supposed to retire last weekend. And before she finally leaves the Kebbi State Judiciary, Mrs Karatu had to clear her table once and for all by delivering certain judgment on the eve of her retirement.
In the three minutes 34 seconds video, which was shot from a mobile phone, the judge is heard saying, “I am the most senior judge in this court and I am here deliver my judgement.”
But the NSCDC personnel blocked her from gaining access into the court.
Her police orderly was heard exchanging words with the Civil Defence personnel, saying, “Listen to me, you don’t have the right to talk to her…you can only talk to her through me.
“For now, she has not left this job. Today is the last day for her, and based on ethics, today is the last day that she is going to serve,” he said.
The NSCDC personnel was still adamant, and claimed that he was acting on the directive given to him by the management.
Activist, Deji Adeyanju said the treatment given to the judge was a sore point to Nigeria.
“This country is too sad and depressing. The governor refused to confirm her as Chief Judge of Kebbi because she is Christian then they humiliated her on her last day and stopped her from delivering a judgement,” he said.
Former aviation minister, Femi Fani Kayode said the Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu should bury his head in shame over the incident.
“Can you believe this? Shame on the Governor of Kebbi state! You refuse to confirm her as Chief Judge simply because she is a Christian and now you prevent her from delivering her judgement and humiliate her like this?The God of the Christians will judge you and repay you,” he said.
Associate Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media at Kennesaw State University, Farook Kperogi said the event was symptomatic of how the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari manipulates the judiciary.
“This viral video of a security man in Kebbi physically stopping Judge Elizabeth Karatu from delivering judgment in her court is both a synecdoche and a cruder, more in-your-face version of how Buhari manipulates the judiciary. Remember CJN Onnoghen and the nocturnal raid of judges?” he said.
From the United States Nigeria Law Group USA also came Emmanuel Ogebe’s reaction which he sent to TheNiche.
Ogebe wrote: “We are in a receipt of a video depicting the prevention of beleaguered Kebbi High Court Judge Justice Elizabeth Karatu from giving judgment in cases before her.
“The shocking incident comes a day after the Supreme Court in an ignominious decision, invalidated an election tribunal’s verdict, in effect nullifying the entire democratic votes of Osun state gubernatorial elections, on the dubious argument that one judge was absent from the trial.
“It is believed that possibly to avert such a travesty and miscarriage of justice, Justice Elizabeth Karatu, who was recently denied confirmation as Chief Judge of Kebbi State, came to deliver all her remaining judgments before her retirement.
“Sources we spoke to indicate that in addition to discrimination on the basis of religion, there were efforts by powerful political forces to force her to pervert justice in cases.
“From the video you can see Justice Elizabeth Karatu being prevented by a Civil Defense staff from entering the court. Her police orderly can be seen trying to reason with the civil defense agent who stuck to his guns.
“This latest development is the continuation of the rape and destruction of the judiciary under the Buhari administration. If the terrible precedent created by the Supreme Court on Friday in the Osun case is followed, poor litigants whose cases have dragged on for years will lose their rights simply because the judge was denied the opportunity to read her judgment before her retirement.”