- As SSS Arrests Two Supreme Court Justices, Others
- Conducts Nationwide Raid of Judges Homes
The meeting, will consider the
recommendation of Justice Walter Samuel Onnoghen, by the Federal
Federal Judicial Service Commission, for appointment as the next Chief
Justice of Nigeria.
It will also discuss the
Gestapo-style arrest of two Supreme Court justices, Sylvester Ngwuta and
Inyang Okoro, and two judges of the Federal High Court, Adeniyi Ademola
(Abuja Division) and Justice Muazu Pindiga (Gombe Division). The house
of another judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice Nnamdi
Dimgba, was also raided. He was however not arrested.
Our correspondent gathered that the
Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, summoned the
emergency meeting in view of the development in the judiciary.
SSS operatives operating simultaneously
raided the houses of the justices and after several hours whisked them
away like common criminals.
Sources said that the operatives surrounded the houses for several hours before they eventually broke in.
An eyewitness told our correspondent
that the SSS operatives initially mistook the house of Justice Onnoghen
for that of Justice Ngwuta. The source said that they however left
Onnoghen’s house immediately they were told that it was not Ngwuta’s
house.
Justice Onnoghen is the most senior
justice of the Supreme Court after the CJN. Barring any unforeseen
circumstance and in accordance with precedent, he is billed to take over
from Justice Mohammed who will retire on November 10 at the mandatory
retirement age of 70.
The operatives also raided houses of
judges already sent packing by the NJC. The house of the former Chief
Judge of Enugu, I.A. Umezulike, was raided in Enugu while the house of a
former judge of Kano State High Court, Kabiru Auta, who was dismissed
last week, was equally raided.
There were allegations that the judges were assaulted in the course of the raid but THISDAY cannot authenticate the allegation.
Dictatorship in the spring as the executive now pursues 3in one power usurpation.making every other arm of government appear less effective and un-institutionalize
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