Accuses AGF of masterminding arrest as payback for ordering his (Malami’s) detention for alleged professional misconduct in Kano
Justice Adeniyi Ademola has declared
that his arrest penultimate weekend during a raid on his Abuja house by
operatives of the Department of State Services was a personal vendetta
against him masterminded by the Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN. In a letter to the Chief
Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, Ademola said Malami was
trying to get back at him because while serving as federal judge in Kano
he once ordered the minister’s arrest and detention for alleged
misconduct.
The judge of the Federal High Court,
Abuja, also narrated his ordeal at the hand of the security operatives,
saying they held guns to his head to sign a document detailing items,
allegedly, found in his house and confessional statements he made during
the raid.
Ademola was one of the four judges
arrested by the DSS penultimate Saturday after an unprecedented sting
operation launched almost simultaneously in different states and Abuja.
The secret police organ said it recovered over N362 million during the
operation targeted at judicial officers accused of involvement in
corrupt practices. Though, the raid, which involved the arrest of two
Supreme Court justices, Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro, and two
judges of the Federal High Court, Ademola (Abuja Division) and Muazu
Pindiga (Gombe Division), was widely criticised.
But in the letter dated October 11, 2016, Ademola accused Malami of pursuing a vendetta against him using the DSS.
But in the letter dated October 11, 2016, Ademola accused Malami of pursuing a vendetta against him using the DSS.
According to the judge, “Contrary to
media report being circulated, I have never confessed to any crime or
implicated anybody, including judges, in my statement obtained from me
by the DSS.
“What is more intriguing in this whole episode is that I see it as a vendetta/revenge from the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Mallami, SAN, (who) whilst I was in Kano between 2004 and 2008 as a Federal High Court judge was involved in a professional misconduct necessitating his arrest and detention by my order. However, with the intervention of the Nigerian Bar Association, Kano Branch, the allegation of misconduct was later withdrawn by me.
“What is more intriguing in this whole episode is that I see it as a vendetta/revenge from the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Mallami, SAN, (who) whilst I was in Kano between 2004 and 2008 as a Federal High Court judge was involved in a professional misconduct necessitating his arrest and detention by my order. However, with the intervention of the Nigerian Bar Association, Kano Branch, the allegation of misconduct was later withdrawn by me.
“Consequently, the National Judicial
Council referred Abubakar Mallami to the NBA Disciplinary Committee for
disciplinary action. It was a result of this he was denied the rank of
SAN by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee for the period of
four years, until when he produced a fake letter of apology,
purportedly, addressed to me. It was then he was conferred with the
rank. Since the above incident, Abubakar Mallami has threatened to
revenge and swore to do anything to bring me down.”
Ademola sought the permission of the CJN to sue the DSS.
“My Lord, with this infringement of my fundamental right, I seek for the leave to commence an action against the DSS to encore my right that was breached,” he stated.
“My Lord, with this infringement of my fundamental right, I seek for the leave to commence an action against the DSS to encore my right that was breached,” he stated.
Ademola also alleged that he was
arrested by the DSS because he granted the former National Security
Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, who is facing trial for corruption, bail and
freed the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The judge said he was held for over 24
hours before he was told the reason he was brought to the DSS office. He
said the operatives threatened and ordered him to sign a document
purported to be inventory of what they allegedly found in his house.
He said, “For and interest of my life, and unknown persons with mask on their faces, I collected the written items and signed the document.
He said, “For and interest of my life, and unknown persons with mask on their faces, I collected the written items and signed the document.
“Upon signing the document, they told me
that I am under arrest and ordered me with guns still pointed at me to
move outside. As I was going, they told me they were taking me to their
office, Department of State Services office, without showing any warrant
of arrest.
“I obeyed them and about six o’clock in
the morning, I was whisked away from my residence to the DSS office
without any warrant of arrest or reason for my arrest. From the time of
my arrival at the DSS office, at about 6:45am on 8/10/2016, I was not
told what my crime was for over 24 hours till the evening of 9/10/2016.
“A DSS official finally informed me that
the search of my house and arrest were based on these three
allegations: petition of Hon. Jenkins Duvie dated 4th of April 2016 to
the National Judicial Council; granting bail to Col. Sambo Dasuki and
the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu; and using my office to secure
my wife’s appointment as the head of civil service through Senator Bola
Tinubu.”
Efforts to get Malami’s reaction to the allegation were unsuccessful, as he neither picked his calls nor replied our SMS.
0 comments:
Post a Comment