The Chief Judge of Ogun State has ordered that only urgent criminal matters would be heard before High Courts in the sate for now while fresh ones would be heard by Magistrates.

This information is contained in a Notice dated 19th March, 2020, signed by the Deputy Chief Registrar, M. A. Akinyemi and made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL).

The Notice reads:

“following the Ogun state government directive banning all high-density gatherings in the same place to prevent the occurrence and spread of coronavirus (COVID 19), the Hon chief judge of Ogun state, Justice M. A. Dipeolu FICMC, has directed that only urgent and criminal matters will be attended to at the high court while only fresh criminal (overnight cases) and custody cases will be attended to at the magistrate courts henceforth until further notice.

Please note that only parties to such cases will be allowed into the court premises at this period.”