Suspected hoodlums on Monday laid siege to the Lagos High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square claiming that one of their members was shot by prison warders from the Kirikiri correctional centre.
They demobilised two Black Maria vehicles that had brought inmates from the Ikoyi correctional centre to court for their cases.
Their actions caused panic and made all the sitting judges end their proceedings abruptly. Registrars and litigants also took to their heels.
According to an eyewitness, the victim was shot while trying to interact with some of the inmates in the Black Maria.
Another eyewitness who pleaded anonymity said that after the victim was shot on the leg, information got to the suspected hoodlums, who swiftly mobilized and came to barricade the entrance of the court after which they deflated the tyres of the Black Maria.
Meanwhile, a press release from the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) says that a security breach was averted at the Lagos State High Court TBS by the personal of the Nigerian Correctional Service Armed squad.
A statement by the PRO of the command, CSC Rotimi Oladokun says that “Persons suspected to be associates of an inmate taken to the Lagos High Court for hearing, staged an attack on the escort personnel with an attempt to forcefully release the inmate while at the premises of the Court. However, the quick response and vigilance of the NCoS court escorts thwarted their effort.
“A security reinforcement was immediately deployed to the court premises to prevent a breakdown of law and order. And All inmates have been successfully returned into secure custody of the Correctional Service.
“During the ensuing melee, one of the attackers’ was shot while trying to dispossess an armed personnel of his rifle,” it added.
Channels Television report that policemen from the nearby Kamsalem area were later drafted to the court to keep the peace.
