Tragedy was averted today, Tuesday 25th February, 2025 at the premises of Enugu High Court headquarters when the ceiling of the court presided over by Justice Okpe collapsed while the court was sitting with the judge, the registrars and lawyers scampering for their lives.
According to some lawyers who were in the court room when the incident happened, the situation would have resulted to loss of lives if the heavy nogging which reared its head from the roof had completely detached from the skeleton. Another lawyer who preferred anonymity said that a senior Advocate of Nigeria, Anthony Ani, had at one of the days he appeared before the judge observed that the ceiling was bad and would soon collapse. However, nothing was done about it and no corrective measure taken until today when it finally gave way.
Drumnewsonline also overheard another lawyer who was livid with rage lamenting that the leadership of the Enugu judiciary is not performing its duties of oversight on most infrastructures belonging to the State judiciary. He pointedly mentioned the State Magistrate Court complex at the state secretariat, GRA, Enugu which is ina state of disrepair even after less than a year’s commissioning and use, the Nike High Court complex opposite Coal City University, Enugu which has been abandoned by judges for fear of collapsing on them and other structures scattered in different parts of the state. He rhetorically asked: ‘What is the chief judge of Enugu state doing?’
It would be recalled that drumnewsonline had published a story on the dilapidated Nike High Court situation when judges fled from the structure for fear of their lives. Presently they assume a refuge status at the headquarters where they struggle for court room spaces with the resident judges in the building. This had led to changes in schedules with some judges alternating their sitting days and schedules to accommodate the fleeing judges.
The collapse of the Enugu High courtroom today was a sign post of the prostrate situation of the court buildings in the state all begging for attention.
Source: Drumnewsoline
