There was pandemonium in the Bank Road area of Port Harcourt on Tuesday when armed policemen forcefully opened the main gate of the Rivers State High Court which had remained under lock and key since June 10, 2014.
The policemen led the most senior judge of the court, Justice Daisy Okocha, and some judges into the court premises after a welder cut the iron bars.
The State Judiciary Workers Union has been on strike since June 10 over the crisis rocking the third arm of government in the state.
Some youths, who had gathered in front of the court, protested the action of the policemen as well as the entry of Okocha and the judges into the premises.
They argued that the police had promised not to allow Okocha and other judges to hold any meeting in the court.
It was gathered that Okocha, who was appointed an Administrative Judge by the National Judicial Council in June 2014, had a meeting with the judges in the court.
While the meeting lasted, more angry youths arrived in buses and joined those that had massed in front of the court. More policemen also arrived in Toyota Hilux vans, thereby increasing the tension in the area.
The security operatives were calm until the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Dan Bature, arrived and queried them for allowing the youths to hang around the court premises.
Bature had warned the angry youths to leave in their own interest before making his way into the court premises with some top police officers.
It was at that point that the policemen in about 20 vans fired tear gas canisters to repel the youths, who were believed to be supporters of the Port Harcourt Caretaker Committee Chairman, Mr. NnamdiWuche.
Even journalists, who came to cover the incident, passersby and motorists got large doses of the tear gas canisters fired at the youths and into the nearby Port Harcourt Local Government secretariat, where some of them took refuge.
Some of the youths still managed to throw empty bottles at the policemen, ostensibly in retaliation.
Earlier, Wuche had warned that he would mobilise the youths to the court premises if the judges dared to hold a meeting there.
The state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. IbimSemenitari, told journalists that it was illegal for Bature to have permitted the forceful entry of the judges into the court premises.
Semenitari stated that the meeting was capable of causing a breakdown of law and order in the state.
She described the incident as a precursor to opening the State House of Assembly and ensuring that six lawmakers impeached Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
She said, “It is surprising that the state police commissioner could superintend over the breaking into the premises of a High Court and in the process, innocent people were attacked with tear gas. Journalists who came to see what was happening were attacked.
“Breaking into the Rivers State High Court cannot be said to be one of the functions of the state police commissioner. On what basis would the CP order the forceful entry into the state high court? On what basis would Justice Okocha break into the High Court that has been under lock and key by striking judiciary workers?
“We appeal to the Federal Government to focus on its work and bring back the (Chibok) girls. We urge the Federal Government to ensure that INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) conducts free and fair elections and we also appeal to the Federal Government to bring back the economy of the country.
“Rivers State cannot be turned into a police state again. There are speculations that the forceful opening of the high court was a precursor to opening the state House of Assembly with the aim of allowing six members of the Assembly to impeach Governor Amaechi.”
Also, the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Worgu Boms, said in a statement that “the judiciary workers had embarked on strike in relation to the Chief Judge issue and secured and locked up the court premises whereupon some persons went there to effect a breakage of the premises to enable the said Justice Okocha to enter and have a meeting.
“This serious security breach can provoke a reaction from the striking workers and may attract other politically-interested persons to the crisis and thus lead to another series of crises.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, said the judges applied for protection and police obliged them.
Mohammad explained that the police fired tear gas canisters when the youths began to throw stones and bottles at them .
He said, “The judges applied to the Commissioner of Police for security. The Commissioner of Police obliged and ordered for the deployment of policemen in the place (court). The 1999 Constitution demands that the police should protect lives and property.
“If this group of people came to protest against the meeting of the judges, I don’t know why they should. They (youths) started hurling stones and bottles at policemen. We cannot just keep quiet like that. We must protect ourselves before we protect anybody.
“Nobody was arrested. They were only dispersed after several warnings. What happened there (meeting of the judges) is not our business. We only provided security there since they applied for protection.”
The crisis in the state judiciary could be traced to the appointment by Amaechi of Justice Peter Agumagu of the Customary Appeal Court as Chief Judge.
Agumagu was suspended by the National Judicial Council, which named Okocha as the acting Chief Judge or Administrative Judge of the state.
This development did not go down well with the Rivers State Government.
Agumagu was suspended for allegedly going against the NJC’s directive that no judge in Rivers State should accept to be acting Chief Judge based on Amaechi’s appointment.
Agumagu’s appointment was in February voided by a Federal High Court presided by Justice LamboAkanbi, which ruled that by the provisions of the law, only the most senior judge in the state judiciary could be appointed as Acting Chief Judge.
