Any Govt Disobeying Court Orders Is Inviting Anarchy — CJN Onnoghen

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Walter Onnoghen has again warned about the possible effects of disobeying court orders.

Mr Onnoghen gave the warning at a public lecture he delivered at the faculty of law, University of Lagos, on May, 31. The theme of the lecture was: “The Rule of Law as Panacea for Peace, Security and Good Governance.”

According to a report by the Daily Trust newspapers, the CJN also attributed the increased rate of killings across the country to the anarchy that results from the failure of the government to obey legitimate orders of court.

“Any government that is against the enthronement of the rule of law is by implication inviting anarchy into the system. A democratic government must not only obey the law but also courts’ orders,” Mr Onnoghen said.

“I have said it before and I am saying it again that if given four years of adherence to the rule of law, Nigeria can change. The problem of insecurity, killings, among others will become a thing of the past.

“But rather than confronting our fears which is how to satisfy the minority groups, we keep creating states and local governments yet the fear remains. But if the rule of law is to be put in place, the minority groups will know that even if they are to be violated, they can go to court and get justice,” Mr Onnoghen added.

The Buhari administration has disobeyed several court orders, especially those favouring its detainees such as former NSA Sambo Dasuki, Shiite leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and pro-Biafra leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

After detaining Mr El-Zakzaky for over two years without charges, the Federal government took Mr El-Zakzaky to court following wide spread protests by Shiite members.

Several Court orders for the release of former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki have also been neglected by the government.

The administration has also experienced a wide range of killings by terrorist and suspected herdsmen.

The killings which have been more persistent in the North-east and North-central parts of the country have claimed thousands of lives since the commencement of this administration.