“Abia State Judiciary Strike Persists: Lawyers, Clients, and Citizens Bear the Brunt”
Members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Abia State chapter, are continuing their strike, despite signing two separate agreements with the Abia State government.
Last week, the Abia State Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, announced that an agreement had been reached with JUSUN to end the strike. However, JUSUN, led by Chinedu Ezeh, has insisted that the strike will only be called off once the state government deposits additional funds into their accounts, beyond the over N300 million released in December. “We will not return to work until we see the money in our accounts,” Ezeh stated.
The union’s demands include both old and new minimum wage welfare packages, among other issues, while the state government maintains that it has been making efforts to improve the welfare of judiciary staff.
The ongoing strike has taken a significant toll on the administration of justice in the state. Lawyers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, lamented that they have been effectively out of work, with numerous case files left unresolved due to the closure of courts.
The strike has also deeply affected clients, including those with relatives incarcerated in Nigeria Correctional Centres in Umuahia and Aba Prisons. Mazi Jonathan, whose son is awaiting trial at the Umuahia Correctional Centre, pleaded for an end to the strike, emphasizing that his son’s access to justice depends on the reopening of the courts. “Government and judiciary workers should end this strike now for my son’s sake,” Jonathan urged.
Bank customers, individuals involved in real estate transactions requiring court documentation, and those needing court clearance for travel have also been severely impacted, unable to process necessary legal documents due to the strike.
While the Abia State government claims it has disbursed more than N300 million since December 2024 for judiciary staff, JUSUN executives assert that their bill is closer to N900 million, further complicating the situation.
In December 2024, the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) held a three-day meeting in Umuahia, where various stakeholders, including journalists, identified the strike as a major obstacle to the administration of criminal justice in Abia State.
