Chief Judge of Niger State Justice, Halima Ibrahim Abdulmalik, has announced the operations of special courts for small claims in the Niger State Judiciary.
The Special Small Claims Court was earlier established through a Gazette, which came into operation October 10, 2018.
To this end, the general public, litigants, and legal practitioners, particularly the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), have been directed to approach the Special Courts to file their processes.
The establishment of the special courts was part of the efforts of the chief judge to decongest the workloads of the high courts in the state.
This was contained in a press release signed by the Director of Media and Publicity of the Niger State Judiciary, Alhaji Abubakar Ahmed Nami, and made available to Newsline, stating that the courts were now in operation in five out of the 25 local government areas of Niger State.
According to the press release, the four local governments were Senior Magstrate Court 2 Bida, Chief Magstrate Court Kontagora, Chief Magstrate Court 2 Suleja, and Magistrate Court 7 Minna, adding that plans were on ground to establish these courts across the remaining 21 local government areas.
The statement further disclosed that the special small claims courts were established via the Niger State Gazette No. 8 Vol. 23 of October 10, 2018.
Abubakar Nami quoted the chief judge as saying that lawyers and their litigants have been directed that cases below three million naira (N3,000.000) should be filed in the established courts and "not in the high courts for speedy dispensation of justice.".
The Special Small Claims Courts, according to the Chief Judge, were aimed at making the high courts concentrate on more serious cases and the business of the courts, calling on the public to abide by the directives.