The Supreme Court has alleged that those that invaded the residence of Justice Mary Odili last Friday were out to kill her.
It described the invasion of the justice’s residence as “uncivilised and shameful show of primitive force on the innocent judicial officer.”
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In a reaction by the Director of Press and Information, Dr Festus Akande, the apex court warned that the judiciary should not be taken as the whipping child of the three arms of government “that must always be chastised and ridiculed to silence because of our conservative disposition.”
“The attack, 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,” the statement said.
It urged the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, to investigate the incident and make his findings public.
“We have had a full dosage of this fusillade of unwarranted and unprovoked attacks on our judicial officers and even facilities across the country, and we say it loudly now that enough is enough,” the statement added.
Assault is APC plot to hijack 2023 elections – PDP
Also demanding a probe of the invasion, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Nigerians to stand in defence of democracy by demanding that the real perpetrators of the attack be exposed and prosecuted.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the assault on the justice was a renewed plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to hijack the 2023 elections as it did in 2019.
The Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Sen. John James Akpanudoedehe, and the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, neither picked their calls nor responded to text messages as of the time of filing this report.
The PDP, however, urged the judiciary to remain firm and not be deterred by “the suppressive proclivities of the fizzling APC that has since been rejected by Nigerians.”
Meanwhile, the IGP on Tuesday in Lagos said those who attacked the Abuja residence of the justice had been arrested.
The IG who spoke during a workshop organised by Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone 2 Command, Lagos, Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, said the case was still being investigated to know their motives.
“I had taken my time not to speak quickly, because I want to appreciate the situation so if I speak, I should be able to give Nigerians the real thing that happened. For now, and to the best of my knowledge, we have been able to arrest the perpetrators and we are investigating,” he said.
The IGP, who also refuted the news making the rounds in the social media that the former Commander of IGP’S Intelligence Response Squad (IRT), DCP Abba Kyari, had resumed duty, said he remained suspended.
He vowed that the police and other sister agencies would ensure the success of Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State, urging people to go out to exercise their rights as adequate security had been provided.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, who declared the two-day workshop open, said the initiative of AIG Kokumo was one of the best things that had happened to the two states of Lagos and Ogun, whose security agencies would benefit from the workshop.
John Chuks Azu, Muideen Olaniyi, Saawua Terzungwe (Abuja) & Eugene Agha (Lagos)
