Ndoma-Egba, Agi lament inferno at Appeal Court in Calabar

SENATE Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba and Mr. Joe Agi (SAN) have condemned last weekend's inferno in Nigeria's oldest courtroom.Ndoma-Egba, who represents Cross River Central in the Senate, described the inferno as 'a monumental loss to the West African sub-region as records of over a century were destroyed'.He stated this when he visited the premises of the Court of Appeal, Calabar Division, which was razed down by fire in the early hours of Saturday. Men of the state fire service had struggled to stop it from spreading to the Government House and the temporary site of the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH) along More Road, which are just 200 metres away.The lawmaker said 'it is tragic because what you see here is not just a court. What you see here is the history of the judiciary in Nigeria, in fact, the history of judiciary in West Africa because at one point in time, this court, which has become a monument, housed the West African Court of Appeal'.He said the Court of Appeal, Calabar, was also the first Supreme Court of the Southern Protectorate and for sometime, the Supreme Court of Nigeria. 'So, it is not just a court, but a monument to the people of Cross River State and the nation', he stated.In his reaction, Agi said the inferno 'is a national shame, because this was the building some of them fought with the former Military Administrator, Ernest Attah, to preserve'.He called for an investigation as the whole court hall and the justices' chambers were razed down, describing the incident as not only a big loss to the judiciary but also to the judges.
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