Coronavirus: NJC Suspends Court Sittings For Two Weeks

The National Judicial Council( NJC) has suspended court sittings across the nation for the next two weeks, following the Coronavirus outbreak.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Muhammad Tanko, disclosed this in a statement he personally signed on Monday.

The CJN maintained that the decision was geared towards the protection of justices, judges and staff of courts.

“In view of the covid-19 and in order to take preventive steps, all heads of courts are from tommorow, the 24th day of March,2020, for the period of two weeks at the first instance, ” the statement read in part.

Recall that the federal government and health authorities across the world had strongly recommended ‘social distancing’ as part of measures to curb the spread of the SARs-like virus.

The CJN further said the court would only sit “except in matters that are urgent and time bound according to our extant laws.”

“Your Lordships are hereby directed to bring the content of this Circular to the notice of all stakeholders in Justice adminstration, please,” the statement added.

THE WHISTLER had reported that a judge of a Federal High Court, Abuja (Justice Taiwo Taiwo) had during a hearing on Monday ordered decongestion of his court room in line with federal government’s guidelines.