Although there
is need to rid the judiciary of corruption, the approach adopted by
President Muhammadu Buhari was totally wrong and unacceptable, the
chairman, Senate committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dino
Melaye, said on Sunday, October 9, 2016.
Senator Melaye, representing Kogi West
on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the National
Assembly, in an e-mailed statement to The Trent, that
he condemned the arrest and invasion of the residence of some Judges by
the Department of State Services, saying the agency acted outside its
core mandate.
According to him, although judges have
no immunity and could be tried, the use of DSS by government was
“absolutely wrong and unacceptable.”
He said, “I have studied the Act setting
up DSS, Nigerian Intelligence Agency and DIA and can conclude that the
DSS operatives went outside their core mandate. There is no doubt that
many judges are corrupt. It is also important to state the need to
sanitise the judiciary of corruption that make judges not to give
commercial rulings which create terrible precedence in our legal system.
Judges have no immunity and can be tried and should be tried but the
use of DSS is absolutely wrong.
“The DSS operatives even when they
overstretched themselves and conducted investigations on the Judges.
They ought to hand over their findings to the appropriate institutions
of government: the Police or National Judicial Council for prosecution
and punishment.
“The rule of law is a core value of
governance and therefore must be guided jealousy. Prosecution of civil
and corruption cases in not the responsibility of DSS. Internal security
is the main duty of the DSS and they should stick to that. God bless
the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Gun-wielding DSS and police operatives
had on Friday night and in the early hours of Saturday swooped on the
residences of senior judges, breaking doors and threatening to harm
their family members and aides.
The judges affected in the raids carried
out in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Gombe States were of the Supreme Court
and Federal High Court.
At least two of the Justices were said
to have recently ruled against the DSS and condemned its disregard of
the laws of the land during its operations.
They arrested Judges are Justice
Sylvester Ngwuta (Supreme Court); Justice John Okoro (Supreme Court) and
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The DSS also searched the residence of another judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, but he was not arrested.
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