• Ondo health tech students protest over extortion, dilapidated facilities
Ondo State judiciary has sunk deeper into constitutional and institutional crisis following an indefinite strike by a coalition of magistrates, presidents of Grade A customary courts, legal research officers and the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).

Court activities across the 18 local councils remain suspended, raising serious concerns about access to justice, public safety and governance.

Also, students of the Ondo State College of Health Technology, Akure, yesterday, protested “extortion and deteriorating infrastructure” within the institution.

The strike, which entered a critical phase in January 2026, is rooted in allegations that the executive arm of government failed to respect the constitutional financial autonomy of the judiciary. Judicial officers accuse the state government of deliberately starving the courts of funds, thereby crippling their operations and welfare.

According to findings, the Ondo State judiciary budget was reduced from about N17 billion in 2025 to N9.5 billion in the 2026 fiscal year.

Compounding the situation, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa reportedly approved only partial autonomy, limited to recurrent expenditure.

Judicial sources warn that the decision could result in a 20 per cent cut in staff salaries in 2026, while capital expenditure for infrastructure and equipment remains unfunded.

Legal practitioners say the shutdown paralysed commercial and civil activities, including land disputes, probate matters, debt recovery and contractual enforcement. Many lawyers who depend on active litigation for their livelihood have been forced into sudden financial hardship.

Observers warn that a prolonged shutdown of the judiciary poses a grave threat to the rule of law. They argue that without functional courts, Ondo risks sliding into legal uncertainty where rights cannot be enforced, and grievances cannot be resolved.

THE protesting students, who shut down activities within the institution, accused the management of the school of shunning their demands despite appeals.

While demanding immediate action to their plight, the aggrieved students, armed with placards of various inscriptions, such as ‘Health Tech With Poor Environment’, ‘Stop Extortion Now’, ‘We Are Tired of This Wickedness’ and ‘No Solution, No Exams’, barricaded the school gate, denying officials of the institution entrance.

The students, who set bonfires and chanted solidarity songs, vowed that there would not be lectures or examinations until the management addresses the deteriorating conditions of classrooms, hostels and laboratories, as well as the lack of a reliable water supply on campus .

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Adeola Ibironke lamented that students had endured years of hardship due to the lack of potable water, poor internal road network, epileptic power supply and other essential facilities.

She alleged that, despite the country’s harsh economic situation, the institution’s management had continued to impose what “unnecessary levies” on students.

Rector of the college, Oluwole Oluwanbe, refuted the allegations but assured of the government’s intervention.