A female judge, Justice Elizabeth Karatu, denied headship of the Kebbi State judiciary, allegedly on account of her faith and sex has been locked out a court to deliver judgment on cases before her.
Details of her lock-out were not clear on the video posted on Facebook.
But the United States-Nigeria Law Group in a statement by its leader, Barrister Emmanuel Ogebe noted that the latest development is the continuation of the rape and destruction of the judiciary.
Said Ogebe ; “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 of the judges 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.”
The US-Nigeria Law Group says it gathered from credible sources that in addition to discrimination on the basis of religion, there were efforts by powerful political forces to force Justice Karatu to pervert justice in cases.
In the video,Justice Karatu was seen being prevented by a National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) staff from accessing the courtroom while her police orderly was seen trying to convince NSCDC official until the recording was brought to an abrupt end.
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