IT was a spectacle to behold yesterday as an Osogbo Chief
Magistrate’s Court ordered a lawyer and his clients to a five-minute
frog-jump for showing disrespect to the court.
The victim, Nnajite
Okobie (counsel), incurred the wrath of Chief Magistrate Adewumi
Makanjuola for ethical misconduct bordering on engaging his clients in a
loud discussion while the court was in session.
Makanjuola, who
was hearing a case on the alleged rape of an 11-year-old primary school
girl, was apparently disturbed by noise from Okobie during a
conversation with two people suspected to be his clients in the court
premises.
The magistrate had earlier sent the court orderly to
warn the lawyer from making a noise in the court but he failed to heed
the order.
Apparently irked by the action of Okobie and his two
clients, Makanjuola ordered the court orderly to invite the trio before
him.
Thereafter, he gave the offenders an option to choose between
being docked for contempt of court or observe a five-minute frog-jump
as punishment.
Shockingly, Okobie and his clients chose to frog-jump and Makanjuola directed the court orderly to enforce the sanction on them.
The
incident attracted the attention of judicial workers and other persons
in the area. While some were full of pity for Okobie, others made a
mockery of him for the duration the punishment lasted.
After they
had observed the punishment, the lawyer led his clients before
Makanjuola to inform him that they were through. The chief magistrate
subsequently warned them to desist from such unruly behaviour in court.
He told Okobie that the fact that he was a lawyer did not exclude him from obeying simple court procedure.
“Even
if the court is not sitting, you should have respect for the court and
for the state government, not to talk of when the court session is in
progress. Mr. Okobie, sorry for treating you like a novice,” Makanjuola
told the lawyer.
Culled From The Guardian
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