By Aderogba George
Abuja – The Chief Judge (CJ) of the FCT High Court, Justice Ishaq Bello on Wednesday inaugurated the Nyanya Judicial Division of the court and warned lawyers against engaging in sharp practices.
Justice Bello said that the new court located in Nyanya, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory would help reduce the workload of the judicial division.
He added that the division would also serve Karu, Mararaba, Jikwoyi and Karshi axis in an attempt to bring justice closer to the people.
The CJ said the new division was created to cater to the growing population in the city and to reduce the rate at which people travelled long distances to get justice.
He noted that there was a lot of distance between the city centre and the satellite towns adding that this made it difficult for people to easily access the city centre to transact business.
“The traffic from Mararaba, Nyanya, and Karu axis and Bwari, Kubwa, and Suleja axis as well as the distance to town from the Gwagwalada axis is just to mention a few.
“We are therefore determined to contribute our own little quota to ameliorating some of these sufferings, and give justice the human face it ought to wear at all times.
“We simply cannot, turn a blind eye to these challenges as access to justice should be defined within the context of convenience of the parties, speed of the process and reasonable cost,’’ he said.
According to him, getting justice should extend beyond just access to a court, a judge or a lawyer because justice that leaves a sour taste in the mouth is no justice at all.
In his goodwill message, Mr Paul Usoro, President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) applauded the initiative noting that it would expand access to justice for litigants.
He said the NBA would continue to support the judiciary in the dispensation of justice.
Mr Magnus Owukwe, a member of the Abuja branch of the NBA commended the gesture saying that the Abuja branch had been able to give birth to a new branch.
Mr Moris Osakwe, Chairman of the NBA, Nyanya/Karu Forum welcomed the new court adding that the forum had been waiting for the establishment of the court for a very long time.
“We have waited for this division for long. It was mentioned last year when the 2017/2018 legal year was commissioned but due to lack infrastructure, the division could not start-off.”
The Chief of Karu, Mr Emmanuel Yepwi, thanked Bello for giving the jurisdiction a high court adding that, it would now migrate from the customary court to a higher court.
(NAN)