Courtrooms, prisons look alike in Niger – Judge.
The presiding Judge of High Court 4 Minna, Justice Mohammed Mohammed has described the conditions in courtrooms in Niger state as being like prisons, lacking basic facilities for humans to function optimally.
Justice Mohammed stated this on Monday during the sitting of the court when the room became hot and almost unbearable for lawyers and litigants.
It was learnt that the presiding Judge noticed that everyone in his courtroom were sweating and fanning themselves with document papers.
He was said to have also noticed that the only airconditioner in the courtroom was not functioning properly prompting him to ask court clerk to bring in a standing fan.
Apparently wanting to fix the situation, Justice Mohammed was said to have halted proceedings for almost five minutes while pleading with the Bar to bear with him on the situation.
However, the standing fan like the airconditioner did not work when it was brought in and the court has to resume under the same harsh room temperature condition with the presiding judge still pleading for more understanding.
He said, ” please bear with us I can see that the courtroom is a little bit uncomfortable. We have airconditioner that is not functioning properly. As you can see, these chairs in the courtroom have been here since 1986. I even have to fix some of them when I came in”.
He described as unfair the decades of negligence of the state Judiciary by government, adding that, “this is the reason why it said that prison and courtrooms look alike in Niger state. It is unfair, the Executive is not treating the judiciary fairly “.
