As the highest court of justice in the land, the Supreme Court rarely speaks, and when it does, it is usually on matters of law, and from its hallowed chambers, rather than in press statement meant for the pages of newspapers. But last week, the Supreme Court spoke to the press directly, and did so in the most alarming manner possible.
In a statement released by its Director of Press, Festus Akande, the Supreme Court condemned the raid on the home of one its justices by yet to be identified security operatives in the week before last.
“We are alarmed”, the statement read, “with the news of the unwarranted and despicable raid on the official residence of one of our senior justices in the Supreme Court, Hon. Justice Mary Peter Odili, JSC, CFR on Friday October 29, 2021 in a Gestapo manner that unfortunately depicted a gory picture of war by some armed persons suspected to be security operatives representing different agencies of government, who seemed to have come to kill and maim their target under the guise of undertaking a search whose warrant was questionable and baseless.
“We are deeply saddened and taken aback by this uncivilized and shameful show of primitive force on an innocent judicial officer that has so far spent several years of her productive life serving the country she calls her own”, the Supreme Court said.
It is not often that the Supreme Court of Nigeria releases such a strongly worded public statement. That it did so is alarming enough, but even more so are the grounds on which the statement was released. Who is after Justice Mary Odili? And for what reasons?
It is not clear yet why security operative raided the home of one of the most senior Justices of the court, or indeed, which particular security agencies carried out the unfortunate operation. The Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, has absolved itself of involvement in the raid, while Force spokesman, Frank Mba, has also said that the leadership of the police did not authorize the siege.
What is clear, however, is that the raid was reportedly carried out on the basis of a search warrant approved by Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna at a Wuse Zone 6 magistrate court in Abuja, purportedly on information provided by a whistleblower, one Aliyu Umar. But tellingly, the chief magistrate has since revoked the warrant order, saying that he was misled.
We strongly condemn the raid on the home of Justice Mary Odili. A siege on the home of a Justice of Nigeria’s highest court by operatives of the Executive arm of government—whoever they are—effectively amounts to an attack on the Supreme Court itself. The home of any Justice of the Supreme Court is not just a house, but an integral part of the court. And in that sense, it amounts to an attack on separation of powers enshrined in Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.
This is why we are unconvinced by the lame excuses of non-involvement so far provided by the Office of the Attorney-General and the leadership of the police. It is good that the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, according to Force spokesman, Frank Mba, has ordered what the force calls “a discrete investigation into the incident”. While we welcome this investigation, we insist that the police must go one step further: a public inquiry into the matter.
The investigation must be carried out immediately and in the public glare to assure Nigerians that our law enforcement agencies have not acted in breach of the law on this matter. It must also be followed through with a vigorous prosecution of any erring officers, for, separation of powers is a cardinal principle without which there is no democracy at all.
Beyond a public inquiry into the incident to ascertain who authorized the raid on the Justice’s home, the threat of injury to life or bodily harm to Justice Mary Odili, as alleged by an authority no less than the Supreme Court itself must be taken seriously. The sanctity accorded to the premises of the Supreme Court must be accorded to the residences and persons who sit on it. More significantly, that sanctity must be seen to be accorded.
None of these is an automatic absolution of any Justices from any charges law enforcement agents might have against them, however. If the police or any anti-corruption agency has any case of infraction of the law against Justice Odili, we urge them to pursue it to its logical conclusion. This must be done, however, within the confines of the law. A Gestapo-like raid on the home of a Justice of the Supreme Court, or a judge of any court for that matter, is outside of the law—and stands condemned. Nigeria is a country guided by laws and those laws should be followed no matter the circumstances.
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