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Viral image of dilapidated building is NOT Grade 1 Area Court, Kabusa

AN image of a dilapidated building is being circulated across different social media platforms as the Grade 1 Area Court in Kabusa, Abuja.

The image shows a white signboard leaning against an old building with “ Grade 1 area court Kabusa, Federal Capital Territory,” written on it.

Some Facebook users have made posts decrying the poor state of the said court.

In a post made on March 4 2022, Facebook user, Izuchukwu Okoli uploaded the picture with a caption: Grade 1 Area Court Kabusa FCT.

On the same day, another Facebook user Paul Edoh Jnr posted the picture with a similar caption, “Grade 1 Area Court, Kabusa… our judiciary system here no try o,” he wrote in pidgin English.

Taking a swipe at the Nigerian government, another user, Comr Simon Nahor, posted the same picture on March 5, 2022:

“Grade 1 Area Court, Kabusa Federal Capital Territory Abuja.

“Tell me, can justice be delivered in this type of environment? Because even the Magistrate or Judge is suffering from injustice already by subjecting (sic) in this type of court. APC is evil,” he said.

The picture was also uploaded on Twitter by Human Rights Activist and lawyer, Chidi Odinkalu.

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Though he did not directly describe the old building as the Kabusa Area Court, Odinakalu posted the picture with a hashtag that read: #WhereIsJustice?

The post had gathered 20 likes, 20 retweets, 3 quote tweets and several comments by users on the platform at the time of filing this report.

The archived version of the posts can be seen here, here, here and here.

The ICIR, however, found that the image and accompanying claims are misleading and false.

During a visit to the Grade 1 Area Court, Kabusa, The ICIR confirmed that the court was a different building from the viral image.

Grade 1 Area Court, Kabusa, Abuja.

The old building in the viral post was situated a few blocks from the court, and according to a court official who pleaded anonymity for lack of authorisation to speak to journalists, said the signboard had been placed in front of the building (in the viral image) to give directions.



The official also told The ICIR that the court has existed at its present location for over five years, but the picture of the old building started circulating in March 2022.

“That building in the picture is just one of these houses close by. The signboard was placed there to help people with directions, but we have since removed it from there.




     

     

    “This court has been here for quite a while. I was posted here in 2019 and this court had been built long before then,” the official said.

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    A visit by The ICIR to the location of the old building showed that it was one of the residential houses around the area.

    Old building being circulated as Grade 1 Area Court, Kabusa without the court signboard. Photo Credit: The ICIR.

    Other images of the Grade 1 Area Court, Kabusa can be seen below:

    Grade 1 Area Court, Kabusa, Abuja. Photo Credit: The ICIR.

    It is clear that the dilapidated building is not the Grade 1 Area Court in Kabusa, therefore the claim that the image in circulation shows the court is false.

    Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.

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