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Osun judicial workers declare indefinite strike

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5 months ago

November 22, 2023

Osun judicial workers declare indefinite strike

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A few days after picketing the office of the embattled Chief Judge of the state, Justice Oyebola Ojo for allegedly refusing to release their wardrobe allowances, judiciary workers in Osun State on Wednesday, declared an indefinite strike with immediate effect.

The action came following a confrontation with the police and the protesting workers which saw the police stationed at the High Court entrance located at Oke-Fia area of Oshogbo, firing tear gas at the protesting workers and journalists.

The Chairman of the state chapter of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), Gbenga Eludire, who declared the immediate commencement of the industrial action, told journalists that since Ojo has declared war against the workers, they would withdraw their service from their respective stations.

“Following the action of the police and the attitude of the Chief Judge, I, Comrade Gbenga Eludire, hereby ordered that workers in the sector should withdraw their service till further notice,” Eludire said while addressing the workers.

In a separate statement made available to newsmen, the Chairman further explained that “the Honourable Chief Judge came today in company of gun-trotting and fierce looking policemen who, apparently working on “an order from above” descended on our members, brutalizing them, tear-gasing them and chasing them away with sticks.

“Our demands are for an investigation into the rot in the Osun Judiciary under the Chief Judge, the high-handedness, corruption and abuse of office by the Chief Judge, and ultimately calling the attention of state government to the plight of some our of members who were unilaterally suspended and their salaries being diverted for over 57 months, and for an improvement in the general facilities and welfare of the judiciary in Osun State, In response, this is what the Chief Judge has now done to us.

“Since the Chief Judge doesn’t want to see our faces again as his lordship has failed to yield to our demands, coupled with the fact that the National Judicial Council is not doing anything, we hereby declare an indefinite strike action in the entire Osun State Judiciary pending when our demands will be met. We also call on the Commissioner of Police to investigate the head of the police team in the escort of the Chief Judge, who acted illegally by brutalizing our members.”