20th November, 2015
Paul Iyoghojie
Litigants who throng Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in Lagos, Southwest, Nigeria, daily to attend to their cases have appealed to the governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode to direct those in-charge of the maintenance of the court to rehabilitate or replace the two faulty elevators in the court so that the beauty of the court can be sustained.
They also urged Ambode to enable magistrates have easy access to their offices and the elderly people attend to their matters on the 3rd and 4th floors of the building without stress.
Some of those who spoke with PM News at the court premises recently said since the elevators broke down few months back, magistrates and elderly people have been using the staircase and have experienced serious pains accessing the third and fourth floors of the building.
They also appealed to the governor to direct those in charge of the court to rehabilitate the male toilets downstairs which has been faulty for the past one year.
They said over over 1,000 male and female now use the female toilets downstairs daily at the same time, noting that, it can result in toilet infections.
They further appealed to the governor to rehabilitate the burnt part of the court and the cracked portion on the third and fourth floors of the building.
According Mr Tunde Adigun, a litigant, “the way the Igbosere court has dilapidated is not encouraging. It was only commissioned in 2010.
“More than 5,000 people visit the court daily to attend to their cases or process documents, and currently the two lifts that move people to the third and fourth floors of the building are not functioning while the male toilets downstairs had been shut down.
“I am now appealing to Governor Ambode to pay a surprise visit to the court to see the decadence of the court for himself because Igbosere magistrates court is one of the best courts in Nigeria today and should not be allowed to decay,” Adigun appealed.
Mrs Sikirat Alabi, who claimed to be 75 years old said, “I am appealing to Governor Ambode to extend the good job he is doing in all parts of Lagos State to the Igbosere magistrates court and direct those in charge of the court to open all the toilets in each floors for public use. I almost urinated on my body before I could climb downstairs when I was pressed,” she said.
“And when I asked why all the the toilets in each floors was locked up, a court source said those in charge of maintenance deliberately locked them up for selfish reasons.
“Ambode should come to our aid at the Igbosere magistrates court,” she added.