Ondo judiciary staff begins indefinite strike, courts shut

The Ondo State Chapter of  The Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria on Friday morning, begins an indefinite strike, effectively grounding judicial activities across the state. Judges, lawyers, and litigants were denied access to court premises, bringing legal proceedings to a standstill.

According to reports, entrances to both the Akure Division of the State High Court and the Magistrates’ Court were firmly locked, stopping all operations within and around the complexes.

Ondo JUSUN chairman, Oluwafemi Afolabi, who confirmed the industrial action in a chat with journalists on Friday, said the seven-day ultimatum to the State Government was given a week ago.

“We have directed all our members to stay off duty starting from today, June 13, 2025, till further directive, and to adhere strictly to the industrial action guidelines,” Afolabi said.

According to him, the decision to paralyse activities in “all courts across the 18 local government areas of the state” was over the failure of the State Government to implement parts of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) granting financial autonomy to the state judiciary.

“Following this, all courts across the 18 LGAs have been shut down and would be affected by the strike,” he further said.

Last Wednesday, the judiciary workers issued a seven-day ultimatum to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to avert the strike by championing the immediate implementation of the MOU regarding the release of funds to the state judiciary in line with judiciary financial autonomy.