A civil servant in Osun State, simply identified as Mr. Dada, broke down in tears after a Magistrate’s Court sitting in Osogbo sentenced him to a two-week imprisonment for disturbing the proceedings of the court with his phone.
Magistrate Olubukola Awodele was presiding over a case of stealing on Monday before the victim’s phone started ringing loudly, a development that distracted the judge and other court attendants.
The civil servant, who was said to be attending the proceeding in solidarity with a relation, who had a matter in the court, had immediately struggled for some seconds to switch off the Techno phone before the court orderly approached him and seized it.
Angered by Dada’s conduct, Magistrate Awodele summoned him into the dock, chastised him and ordered that he be kept in Ilesa Prison custody for two weeks to serve as deterrent to others in the habit of disrespecting the court.
At this juncture, the worker, who was already sobbing, prostrated and started begging the female magistrate, saying, “I am sorry, ma. I am a civil servant and this is my first time in court. Please, forgive me.”
Magistrate Awodele said the civil servants action was contemptuous and deserved to be punished.
She warned others in court for proceedings to always switch off their cell phones, when in the courtroom.
The magistrate, however, granted Dada N2000 option of fine and asked him to pay it to the government purse and present the receipt to the court clerk to enable him to retrieve his seized phone.
