A Facebook post by legal practitioner Opeyemi Adeyemi has drawn sharp attention to what he describes as a humiliating experience at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, where lawyers were subjected to security measures he called “demeaning and utterly reprehensible.”
Recounting the incident in a post published on his personal Facebook page, Adeyemi described how robed lawyers were stopped at both the court entrance and gate by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS). Each lawyer, he said, was forced to disclose the name of the case they came to conduct and the party they represent, before being granted access to the court premises.
“They were frisked thoroughly, like suspects, right there in the open. And while all this was going on, it began to drizzle,” Adeyemi wrote. “The entire scene resembled lawyers queueing for government palliatives—not professionals trying to access a courthouse to do their jobs.”
While acknowledging the need for heightened security in the presence of high-profile suspects, Adeyemi criticized the DSS’s approach. “There’s a clear difference between securing a court and staging a show of force that undermines the dignity of its officers,” he said.
He suggested practical alternatives that would preserve both security and decorum, including scheduling such sensitive cases for Saturdays, convening proceedings at detention facilities, or conducting the trial virtually. “By the authority of Balogun v. Odumosu, Saturday is not a non-juridical day. Courts can sit anywhere that is reasonable and convenient,” he noted.
Adeyemi also decried the choice of security personnel. “Even if it’s just for the optics, the appropriate body to manage courtroom security is the court’s assigned police unit—not operatives from an agency known for disregarding lawyers and court orders alike.”
Adding to the day’s disarray, Adeyemi observed that many courts did not sit at all, reportedly due to an ongoing judicial workshop.
He ended his Facebook post with a call to action directed at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA): “If the NBA does not issue a strongly-worded response to this aberration, its relevance in protecting the ease of practice for lawyers will continue to fade.”
Since its posting, Adeyemi’s account has sparked conversations across legal circles, renewing concern over the treatment of lawyers and the sanctity of Nigeria’s judicial spaces.
