.Insist on November 22 deadline if…
By Yahaya Umar, Abuja
Amid the extension of deadline for strike earlier scheduled to begin yesterday by Cross River State branch of the Magistrates Association of Nigeria, MAN, to protest stagnation in service, inadequate welfare package among other issues, the state government is yet to address concerns raised by the magistrates AljazirahNigeria has learnt.
This is not the first occasion that Magistrates in the state have had to resort to drastic measures to attract the attention of the state government. In January 2021, an unusual protest occurred in Cross River State on a Monday morning as magistrates, distressed by the non-payment of their salaries for two years, demonstrated with placards outside the Governor’s office in Calabar.
It would be recalled that the association had earlier issued a communiqué dated November 5, 2024, wherein it listed demands and called on Cross River Governor, Senator Bassey Otu, to attend to their demand or ‘’we would be left with no option but to embark on an industrial action for two weeks from Wednesday, November 13, 2024, and subsequently by withdrawing our services across the State indefinitely’’.
‘’We have upon consultation with our members with due regards to you, decided to extend the “Notice of strike to Friday, November 22, 2024” to afford Your Excellency, the opportunity to return and grant our demands. Please take note that at the expiration of this extended notice, we shall proceed with our strike action without further notice’’, the communique read.
A source within the association said, members are not happy that despite their magnanimity the state government appears to be foot dragging on the matter’’, as such ‘’we are not going to extend the period of grace’’.
‘’We cannot continue with the inadequacies being experience by Magistrates in the course of doing their job. I think the government should do the needful with a view to averting withdrawal of our service’’, some of the Magistrates unanimously stated.
The shifting of the warning strike according to a communique obtained by AljazirahNigeria is ‘’sequel to the invitation by the Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to a meeting at your instance, the Executives of Magistrates’ Association of Nigeria, Cross River State Chapter met with the Honourable Attorney-General on Friday, November 8, 2024, wherein he informed us of your [Governor Otu] desire to attend to our demands personally on your return from your trip, and your appeal that the strike action be shelved until your return within two weeks. We have upon consultation with our members with due regards to you, decided to extend the ‘Notice of Strike’ to Friday, November 22, 2024 to afford Your Excellency the opportunity to return and grant our demands. Please take note that at the expiration of this extended notice, we shall proceed with our strike action without further notice’’.
The communique signed by Godwin Onah and Solomon Abuo, President and Secretary, the association said some Magistrates had been stagnated since 2015.
The association expressed displeasure over ₦15,000 monthly allowance given to Magistrates in the State, compared with their colleagues in other states, who received between ₦200,000 and ₦250,000 monthly.
The Magistrates demands include the rehabilitation of Magistrate Courts across the state and no provision of official vehicles to its members.as well as pay yearly robing allowances to its members as applicable nationwide.
The association lamented that “To protect the welfare of members, uphold minimum standards and sanctity of the Magistrates in the state, we need immediate action on our demands.
“Magistrates are seen daily on public or commercial vehicles, most times alongside litigants and criminal suspects standing trial before them, this is a security risk to our lives’’.
The communique was copied to:
1. The Hon. Chief Judge of Cross River State
II. The Secretary to the Government of Cross River State.
III. The Hon. Attorney General/ Commissioner for Justice
IV. The Head of Service to the Government of Cross River State
V. The State Director of Security, Dept. of State Services, CRS
VI. The Chairman, NBA Calabar Branch.
VII. The Chairman, NBA Ikom Branch
VIII. The Chairman, NBA Ogoja Branch
IX. The Commissioner of Police, Cross River State
X. The Controller of Corrections, Cross River State
XI. The Chairman, Elders of the Nigeria Bar Association, CRS
