FG lawyers shut down Justice Ministry

 

As early as 7a.m., the Federal Ministry of Justice also housing the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) was yesterday shut down by aggrieved protesters under the umbrella of Law Officers Association of Nigeria (LOAN) over issues bordering of welfare of members.
National president of the protesting lawyers, who are employed by the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mr. Solomon Ibhadon led the peaceful protest to kick-start a three-day working strike for the implementation of the circular for the harmonisation and payment of peculiar allowances to law officers in the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Ibhadon, in his solidarity message to the aggrieved workers vowed to continue with the struggle for a uniform salary structure for law officers in the public service.
The LOAN President commended the efforts so far made by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for an amicable resolution of the dispute.
Also affected by the protest are business entities including Access Bank and the United Bank for Africa branches located inside the building.
The protesting lawyers were  carrying placards with various inscriptions.
like “law officers are full of duties but dry in recompense”, “FGN implement the 1994 circular on harmonization”, “we handle volatile , high profile and complex cases at the risk of our lives give us hazard allowance”, “ Do unto us what you have done to University lecturers, doctors, Judicial Officers, Magistrates, etc,” and “ we demand harmonization and peculiar allowances FGN implement the 1994 circular on harmonization”
Also speaking at the venue, Chairman of the Abuja branch of the LOAN, Comrade Yusuf Abdulkadir said that the strike was in furtherance of the association’s 21-day industrial action notice which ended yesterday.
Abdulkadir, who is also the national vice president of the association, stated that his members held a series of meetings with the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke, Head of Service, Danladi Kifasi and others but nothing came out of it.
He noted that though the discussions were a welcome development, “they turned out to be promises and did not translate into concrete agreements or approval of all or any of our demands.”
LOAN is asking the Federal Government (FG) to address grievances dating back more than 20 years which include the implementation of a circular issued by the Body of Attorneys-General in 1994 calling for enhanced salaries for law officers. The circular has already been implemented by some state governments across the country.