A magistrate was fired by the Niger State Judicial Service Commission for allegedly abusing his position and engaging in professional misconduct.
The NJSC also demoted level two Sharia Court judges by one grade on Wednesday.
In a Wednesday press conference in Minna, the state capital, the commission’s secretary, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ahmed Garafini, revealed that the degraded Sharia Court judges would be required to complete a year of tutelage under senior justices.
The verdicts were made at the 136th meeting of the Commission, which was held on March 21, 2023, after being taken into consideration by a committee formed to look into petitions against the judges, according to the NJSC secretary.
Three of the seven petitions, according to Garafini, were directed at the judge who was fired, and the petitioners had properly proven two of the petitions.
The petitioner had “sufficiently proved” the allegations of interference, obstruction of justice, and abuse of judicial authority against His Worship, the committee’s findings stated, adding that the respondent had also admitted to the charges.
According to Garafini, the report and recommendations of the committee headed by Justice Mohammed Mohammed also accused the judge for essentially reneging on his duty as a judicial officer by defending and preventing an arrest by the police and the court.
Garafini also stated that the judge was accused of exploiting his position of authority to intimidate Fulani herdsmen and demand N400,000 from them in a separate lawsuit.
The fired judge “was a judge in his own case and used instrument of his office to enable a lucrative benefit for his own interest and private affairs,” according to the NJSC scribe, who was present at the committee’s discovery.
