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Law firm lifts high, appeal courts with office equipment

By Robert Egbe

 

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr Ade Adedeji has said that he was shocked at the level of destruction of judicial system infrastructure in Lagos during the #EndSARS protest.

Adedeji told The Nation that he had, over the years, developed an emotional bond with the Igbosere High Court – said to be the country’s oldest – being where he started his law practice decades ago.

The Silk’s firm, Adedeji Owotomo and Co. LLP, donated office equipment to the Igbosere High Court and the Court of Appeal last Wednesday.

The Igbosere High Court was looted and razed to the ground on October 21 by hoodlums who hijacked peaceful anti-police brutality protests.

The Court of Appeal and Igbosere Magistrates’ Court next door, and internationally certified Lagos State DNA & Forensic Centre (LSD&FC), all on Lagos Island, were also vandalised or set ablaze.

In all, the hoodlums visited 27 locations in Lagos with wanton destruction, leaving behind ruins like a war zone, with Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu saying the state needed about N1 trillion to rebuild.

Adedeji explained that this, among others, necessitated his law firm’s decision to make the donations.

He said: “We donated five complete sets of computers and 10 standing fans to the Igbosere High Court and did the same for the Court of Appeal next door. Don’t forget they also destroyed amenities and facilities at the Court of Appeal and carted away their computers, printers, photocopiers, air conditioners, among others. They looted the place. We will do more as soon as we have the opportunity because it is never too much.

“I didn’t have the emotional courage to go to that place until weeks after, because even without going there, I was shedding tears. I know every nook and cranny of that place…the sheriffs’ area, the records, the library; who would want to torch that kind of place? These are the reasons that informed my decision to make these donations.”

Going down memory lane, the Silk said: “Some of us do have an emotional attachment to the high court facility at Igbosere. Number one, this is the oldest court in the country and it has a lot of value, a lot of things we really do need to keep in memory. For me personally, that was where I started my practice as a young lawyer many years ago and for that reason, one naturally does have some emotional attachment to that court.

“One must condemn in strong terms the looting and torching of these facilities. There cannot be any reason for doing so. It was barbaric and criminal.

“The least we can do in the circumstance is to support the efforts of the Chief Judge of Lagos State Hon Justice Kazeem Alogba, and of course, the efforts of the entire judiciary in revamping the court and making sure that activities and services return as soon as possible.

“That was what informed our decision to set the ball rolling by supporting the efforts in the little way that we have.”

Justice Taofikat Oyekan-Abdullahi, who received the equipment on the judiciary’s behalf, commended the gesture.

She said: “On behalf of the Chief Judge of Lagos State Hon Justice Kazeem Alogba and all the judges affected by the recent inferno at the high court, we say a big thank you to the chambers of Adedeji Owotomo and Co. LLP. We are very delighted and this goes to show that you really care. We thank you from the deepest portion of our heart; you are indeed a friend in deed.”

Source: thenationonlineng.net