State of emergency: Judge resigns in detestation of 'quasi-military' rule

A Chief Magistrate has become the second public officer to resign from the Rivers State government following the declaration of a state of emergency. This resignation comes after George Nweke, the head of service, had earlier quit his position.

The Chief Magistrate cited his discomfort with what he called “quasi-military rule” in the state as the reason for his departure.

Chief Magistrate Ejike King George wrote from his desk at the Rivers State High Court Complex on Nnamdi Azikiwe Road in Port Harcourt on April 11, 2025, to the Chief Judge of the Rivers State Judiciary. The letter, sent through the Secretary of the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission, was titled “Voluntary Retirement from Service.”

He stated in his letter: “This present [letter] is intended to convey my decision to voluntarily retire from my appointment as a Magistrate of the Judiciary of Rivers State.”

He continued: “This difficult and regrettable decision is informed largely by my discomfort with the recent appointment of a quasi-military administration to run the affairs of a modern State like ours.”

“Milord will agree with me that this type of governance system is not only alien but also runs antithetical to our hallowed profession as legal practitioners and adjudicators.”

He further noted that having devoted 16 years out of his 22-year legal practice to the Rivers State Judiciary as a Magistrate under successive democratic administrations, “I find it difficult to work with the current setting, as doing so would amount to a tacit and naïve acquiescence.”

“Thanks, Milord, for the opportunity to serve,” he concluded.

The first public officer to resign later surprised the state with a video clip making serious allegations against his former boss, the suspended governor, Sim Fubara, and his chief of staff, Edison Ehie, accusing them of burning the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The matter has generated a N2 billion court case in a high court in the state.