Rights Group Decries Assault On Benue Judges

Leaders of the Justice and Human Rights Advocates have condemned the recent assault on some judges in Benue State by suspected thugs.

The group said the attack on judges has serious implications for the independence and good governance in the state.

The group said it was sad that it was under this administration that various infractions including the botched attempt to sack the state‘s chief judge were being committed.

At a press conference yesterday in Abuja anchored by its national coordinator, Dr Emmanuel Agabi, the group advised the governor not to allow Benue to be plunged into a state of fear and lawlessness.
Agabi said, “On February 19, 2025, a group of thugs, reportedly arrived in vehicles displaying Governor

Alia‘s image, held 19 judges of the Benue State High Court and the Customary Court of Appeal hostage for nearly five hours. The assailants vandalised the chief judge‘s office door and assaulted security personnel, creating an environment of terror within the judiciary.”

According to him, thugs have repeatedly disrupted occasions attended by judges of the state judiciary, including a thanksgiving mass at the Annunciation Catholic Rectory in Tsuwe Daka and a similar incident at a thanksgiving in honour of Senator Titus Zam at NKST Naka, Gwer West LGA.
He also picked holes in the appointment of caretaker local government chairmen despite a National Industrial Court ruling restraining such actions.

This decision not only violates a specific court order but also contravenes established legal precedents, including a Supreme Court judgment that outlawed the dissolution of elected local government councils and the establishment of caretaker committees by state governors,” he said.
He decried the non-payment of the judiciary staff salaries which has resulted in prolonged strikes and paralysed judicial activities.