Lawyers Under Fire: Have Judges Turned the NBA into a Courtroom of Intimidation?

The Nigerian Bar Association cautioned that the courtroom must remain a forum of law, not intimidation; of reason, not fear, in a strongly worded statement issued on March 26, 2026.

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The NBA, the umbrella body for legal practitioners in the country, expressly warned judges against abusing their power by using contempt punishments to intimidate or bully lawyers, citing shocking reports of judges not only bullying lawyers in courtrooms but also unlawfully ordering their detention.

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The association cried out over a judge’s directive that a lawyer appearing before him should kneel in front of the court, with the first report of such an ugly incident emanating from proceedings in Suit No. PHC/301/2016: Mr. Bodiseowei Zidougha v. The Chief of Naval Staff & 2 Ors., before Justice Chinwendu Nwogu of the High Court of Rivers State.

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According to the NBA, the trial judge, after delivering judgment, convicted and ordered the detention of the lawyer representing the defendants, Mrs. Lovinah Ugbana Benjamin, of contempt of court for allegedly making false statements and imputations against the Court in a written address she filed in the matter.

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The NBA said it had also received a report of a summary order issued by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on March 25, 2026, for the detention of Mr. Martin Anyanwu, a legal officer employed by the Federal Medical Center, Keffi in the court’s holding facility.

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There have been recent reports of lawyers being subjected to degrading and demeaning treatment in courtrooms, including being asked to kneel or stand facing the wall under threat of contempt, which undermines the dignity of the legal profession and erodes the mutual respect that must define the relationship between the Bench and the Bar.

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Such conduct degrades lawyers and demeans the legal profession, with these reports being not only frightening but also appearing to show an increasing intolerance and penchant for abusing judicial powers by some judges.

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These actions by the learned trial judges are not only unfair but exceedingly high-handed, with the NBA deprecating them in the statement, jointly signed by its President, Mazi Afam Osigwe, SAN, and General Secretary, Dr. Mobolaji Ojibara.

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The developments have further illuminated the growing distrust between the Bench and the Bar, with the Bench pointing the finger at the Bar as primarily responsible for the perceived institutional rot in the judiciary, while the Bar repeatedly alleges the existence of bad eggs on the Bench.

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The National Judicial Council is the statutory body that defends and protects judges in the country, with the idea of judges forming unions having been mooted in the past and promptly shot down.

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Judges’ frustration over their inability to defend themselves when lawyers publicly lampoon them in the media found expression in an address by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, on December 15, 2025, where he commented on the disturbing menace of incessant social media attacks on judicial Officers by some lawyers.

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Justice Tsoho stated that some senior lawyers, who should be exemplary in their practice of law, are involved in the obnoxious and ignoble conduct of launching baseless and unsubstantiated attacks on judges, and that something drastic must be done to save the legal profession from such characters.

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The NBA fired its own salvo, insisting that many anomalies in the judiciary could be cured by the appointment of the right calibre of persons as judges, and that one of the deeply distressing frustrations endured daily by litigants, lawyers, and ordinary citizens is the unpredictability of court sittings.

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The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, pleaded in her intervention that the success of the judiciary hinges on mutual understanding and cooperation between the Bar and the Bench, stating that the Bench and the Bar remain partners in the administration of justice.

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A weak link on either side diminishes the system as a whole, according to the CJN, who attended the high court’s event as a special guest, with her eyes roving between the elevated platform where the judges sat and the lower section of the room occupied by senior and junior lawyers.

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Deprecating what it termed continued bullying of lawyers in courtrooms, the NBA demanded the immediate release of its detained member, stating that not every act of discourtesy to the Court by counsel amounts to contempt, nor any conduct which involves a breach by counsel of his duty to his client.

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Courts must distinguish between acts of discourtesy, incivility, uncouth behaviour, or rudeness, which may be annoying but are not necessarily acts of contempt of Court, according to the NBA.

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Contempt must not be equated with conduct which will inevitably obstruct or disrupt the proceedings of the court or which is not to the liking of the judge, with a distinction to be drawn between what may annoy a judge and what amounts to contempt.

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It is not a contempt of court to criticize the conduct of a judge or the conduct of a court, even if such criticism is strongly worded, provided that the criticism is fair, temperate, and made in good faith, with the power to punish for contempt being abused in these circumstances.

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A lawyer has a constitutional right of audience in court and should neither be intimidated nor detained for carrying out this duty, with how a lawyer chooses to present his case being his own style, and it being unconstitutional and an abuse of office for a judge to abridge counsel’s right of audience by invoking his powers of contempt.

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The administration of justice rests on a delicate but enduring partnership between the Bench and the Bar, one built not on fear but on mutual respect, restraint, and a shared commitment to the rule of law, with the judge presiding with authority and the lawyer appearing with courage, each being indispensable and neither subordinate to the other in dignity.

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When judicial authority is exercised in a manner that intimidates, humiliates, or suppresses counsel, the courtroom ceases to be a temple of justice and risks becoming a theatre of fear, with courts possessing inherent powers to protect their authority and dignity, but such powers must be exercised within the bounds of the law and in accordance with the principles of fair hearing and due process.

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A legal practitioner is entitled to present a client’s case fearlessly and within the confines of the law, with where a court considers counsel’s conduct improper, the proper course being to invoke recognised disciplinary mechanisms, including referring counsel to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee, rather than resorting to summary punitive measures.

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Even where a court believes that counsel has misrepresented facts in an affidavit, written address, or any process filed before it, the appropriate step is to refer the matter to the LPDC for investigation and possible disciplinary action, with summary remand in such circumstances being disproportionate and amounting to a denial of fair hearing.

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The power to punish for contempt is an extraordinary jurisdiction that must be exercised sparingly and only in clear cases where the administration of justice is under immediate threat, with the judge, by virtue of office, being the more powerful actor in the courtroom.

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The use of contempt powers in circumstances that do not clearly amount to obstruction of justice creates an atmosphere of intimidation and amounts to judicial bullying, with the contempt jurisdiction existing to protect the court, not to silence counsel or penalise advocacy undertaken in the discharge of professional duty.

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As part of its demands, the NBA asked the Chief Judge of Rivers State to immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident that led to the detention of the lawyer on a judge’s orders and to take appropriate administrative action.

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The NBA further demanded that appropriate disciplinary steps be taken by the National Judicial Council where necessary, that the remand of Mrs. Lovinah Ugbana Benjamin under these circumstances be condemned and set aside, and that all NBA branches in Port Harcourt and its environs, and all legal practitioners, boycott proceedings before the court of Hon. Justice Nwogu for seven days if Mrs. Lovinah is not released within 24 hours.

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The NBA also directed its Human Rights Institute to monitor the situation immediately, liaise with relevant authorities, and take all necessary steps to ensure the prompt release of their colleague and the protection of her fundamental rights.

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The NBA stated that it will also engage the National Judicial Council and the National Judicial Institute to address the emerging pattern of judicial overreach, reinforce standards of judicial temperament, and strengthen the institutional relationship between the Bench and the Bar.

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The courtroom must remain a forum of law, not intimidation; of reason, not fear, with the authority of the court being best preserved through fairness, restraint, and fidelity to the rule of law, according to the NBA.

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Notwithstanding the NBA’s spirited fight, among those who believe the association has not done enough to protect lawyers is frontline activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Omoyele Sowore, who commended the association for finally waking up to the reality that judges have been abusing lawyers.

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Sowore implored the NBA to act beyond issuing press statements, stating that Nigeria Police Force officers routinely slap lawyers, harass them, and bundle them out of interrogation rooms like common criminals, and that the DSS blocks lawyers from accessing their clients, undermining the very foundation of legal representation.

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Sowore queried what exactly the NBA is prepared to do beyond issuing press statements and selective outrage, with the judicial authorities yet to formally respond to the NBA’s statement.

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The protest has reignited debate on judicial temperament, the proper exercise of contempt