- Malami Denies Involvement
- NBA Blows Hot
Reactions have continued to trail the recent raid of the residence of a Justice of the supreme Court, Mary Odili, on Friday night.
Some security operatives, in the late hours of Friday stormed Odili’s residence at No. 9, Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja. The operatives had claimed to have gotten a valid court order from an Abuja Chief Magistrate Court, to search the house of the second most senior jurist of the apex court.
The operatives said they received information from a whistleblower about some illegal activities allegedly being perpetrated at Odili’s residence.
However, on Saturday the Chief Magistrate Court, Abuja, Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna, who had initially issued a search warrant revoked it on the grounds that he was deceived by a Joint Panel Recovery unit of the Federal Ministry of Justice.
Iyanna in a statement said he was deceived by a whistleblower and a police operative to issue the search warrant.
The revocation order read: “Upon misrepresentation to this honourable court that led to the issuance of a search warrant in favour of Joint Panel Recovery, Ministry of Justice, against House 9, Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja, dated October 29, 2021. In view of the above fact, the said search warrant is hereby revoked.”
Shortly after the announcement of the revocation order, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN had on Saturday denied his involvement in the raid by security operatives on the house of Odili.
The AGF in a statement by his media aide, Dr Umar Gwandu, described reports linking him to the raid as false and concocted lies.
He also clarified that there is nothing called Joint Panel Recovery under the Ministry of Justice.
“It is important to set the record straight that as the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, Malami will not stoop too low to be associated with an apparent in-elegant and nasty court process on the strength of which the purported search warrant was procured.
“The general public need to know that there was nothing called Joint Panel Recovery Under the Ministry of Justice in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and by extension the entire Federal Ministry of Justice.
“What we have is Assets Recovery and Management Unit, the mandate of which does not include stings operations”, the AGF said in the statement.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has reacted to the raid of Odili’s residence.
The NBA, in a statement issued by its President, Olumide Akpata, described the raid as an intimidation of the judiciary. According to the association, the raid was orchestrated by some “rogue security agencies” to undermine the rule of law of the country.
The statement reads, “The Nigerian Bar Association received with grave concern the news of the unlawful siege on the Abuja residence of a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Mary Ukaego Peter-Odili, last night by officers of one or more of the Nigerian security agencies.
“Almost 24 hours later, information concerning the basis of the siege remains hazy and the subject of speculation, apart from reports that the invasion was pursuant to a search warrant issued by a Magistrate Court in Abuja, which search warrant has now been revoked.
“The Honourable AGF under whose office the team that purportedly carried out the raid is allegedly domiciled has also reportedly denounced the team, which implies that the residence of the second most senior judicial officer in Nigeria was raided by rogue security agencies.
“The grave implications of this possibility leave a lot to be desired.
“When viewed in the context of a similar raid on the premises of Supreme Court Justices in 2016, the rationale of which was never satisfactorily justified, the NBA interprets last night’s incident as part of an orchestrated affront on the Judiciary, designed to intimidate and ridicule the Judiciary. The NBA will no longer allow this to continue.
“In case the law enforcement agencies have not learnt their lessons, events like this do nothing but erode the independence of sacred democratic institutions like the Judiciary, undermine the rule of law in Nigeria and set the country back in the quest to instil confidence in citizens of Nigeria, Nigerian businesses, and foreign investors that Nigeria operates a democracy with an independent Judiciary.
“I have spoken with My Lord, Peter-Odili JSC and I am happy to report that she is alive and well. Beyond that, however, it is my pledge to Nigerians that the NBA will get to the root of this matter.
“In line with the aims and objectives of the NBA to protect and defend the independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law, we will convene an emergency meeting of the NBA National Executive Committee solely to discuss this issue and take a definitive stand on behalf of the NBA.
“I will also lead a delegation to the Honourable AGF Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN and the relevant heads of security agencies to seek further clarification on the circumstances of this incident.
“The NBA will ensure that all those responsible for this unfortunate incident are brought to book. We must do all that is required to safeguard the independence of our Judiciary and indeed protect our hard-won democracy.”
