By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA – ‎THE Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Mahmud Mohammed and other Justices of the Supreme Court were Monday, locked out of their respective offices by protesting members of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria, JUSUN.

The Union which embarked on a nationwide indefinite strike Monday, equally prevented Justices of the Appeal Court and Judges of both High and Lower Courts within the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, from conducting any form of legal activity.

Justice Mahmud Mohammed

All the courts, including the Supreme Court, was barricaded by the striking judiciary workers who used heavy chains and padlocks ‎to block entrance and exit gates to all the courts.

All the Justices that intended to access their offices yesterday, including the CJN, were forced to turn back, as the workers, through their National President Mr. Adamu Marwa, maintained that they would not bow down until the Federal Government complied and implemented the Federal High Court judgement that declared financial autonomy for the judiciary.

The judgment which was delivered on January 13, 2014, by Justice Ademola Adeniyi ‎had specifically ordered that funds meant for the judiciary should be released directly to the heads of courts and not to the Executive arm of government.