Lawyers from the Nsukka and Obollo-Afor areas of Enugu State on Tuesday sealed the High Court in Obollo-Afor in protest against the continued absence of judges from physical court sittings in the area.
The lawyers said the action was aimed at drawing attention to what they described as the prolonged abandonment of courtrooms by judges posted to the Enugu North Senatorial District.
According to reports, judges assigned to the district had resorted to virtual proceedings in recent years due to security concerns arising from heightened insecurity in parts of the zone.
The protesting lawyers, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the arrangement, insisting that physical court sittings should resume to ensure effective administration of justice.
The protest followed an earlier demonstration held on June 3, when legal practitioners marched through major streets in Nsukka to register their grievances over the continued use of virtual court proceedings.
The earlier protest reportedly affected all five judicial divisions in the senatorial district, including Nsukka, Obollo-Afor, Enugu-Ezike, Ogbede and Umulokpa.
On Tuesday, the lawyers intensified their action by shutting the High Court premises in Obollo-Afor, demanding the immediate return of judges to the courtrooms.
The protesters argued that the prolonged reliance on virtual proceedings had negatively affected access to justice and delayed the hearing of cases within the district.
They called on the relevant judicial authorities to address the concerns and provide adequate security measures that would enable judges to resume physical sittings in the affected courts.
The lawyers maintained that while security concerns were important, litigants and legal practitioners were entitled to efficient and accessible judicial services.
Efforts to obtain comments from judicial authorities on the development were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
