November 07, (THEWILL) – Pending further investigations, the Supreme Court position on the attack on Justice Mary Odili’s Maitama Abuja residence on Friday, October 29, 2021 appears to be the most worrisome among the unfolding scenarios on the matter.
The apex court’s statement said, “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 either kill or maim their target under the guise of undertaking a search whose warrant was questionable and baseless.”
Investigation by THEWILL shows that her yet-to-be identified attackers could have done exactly what the court feared.
The purported search warrant unusually bore no name. The street name on it was No 9 Imo Rivers Street. Justice Odili’s house number is 7 and Imo Rivers Crescent is the location of her house, about a stone’s throw from the Close.
“There is even an Imo Crescent in Garki,” said Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, in a brief interview with this newspaper. Garki is 9 kilometers from Maitama, an upscale district in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was no name on the search warrant. A search warrant is meant to search a human being and not a graveyard. Why would you not put a name on it?” Ozekhome, who was promptly at the Odili’s residence immediately the news broke that fateful Friday, said.
The Senior advocate of Nigeria, who, alongside many angry youths, kept vigil at House number 9, Mataima, Abuja in solidarity with the Odilis, added, “So if they had done due diligence and their motive was not to embarrass her and the issue was not politically motivated, to set her up and to humiliate her husband, with only a few days left to the National Convention of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where he is a big fish, then what was their mission?”
The Unfolding Drama
So, what is the mission of those who are after Justice Odili? Emerging details suggest that it is part of the power play around the unsuccessful attempts made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to prosecute her husband and former governor of River State, Dr Peter Odili, over alleged money laundering for the past 12 years.
A dependable government source, who dismissed the view that the ‘invasion’ of Justice Odili’s residence was part of an orchestration to ensure she does not succeed Justice Mohammed Tanko, Chief Justice of the Federation, said the matter was different.
“Dr. Odili had since 2007 got a court injunction to prevent the EFCC from investigating or arresting him and probing the account of the state government, and his wife, Justice Odili, is said to be the one behind that perpetual court injunction against the anti-graft agency,” said the source.
The source said it was strongly believed that the continued attempts by the Commission to overturn the court injunction took the case to the Supreme Court where it appears to have been stalled.
Several phone calls made to the Head of Media and Publicity at EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, were unanswered. In fact, the lines were literally dead.
The Commission has, however, denied reports that its operatives stormed the Maitama, Abuja home of Justice Odili on October 29, 2021 purportedly to execute a search.
In a statement issued on that day, Uwujaren urged the public to disregard the report, describing it as false and saying the EFCC did not carry out any operation at Odili’s residence.
He said,” If there was any such operation as claimed by the media, it was not carried out by the EFCC. The Commission enjoins the public to discountenance the report.”
The immediate past Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, had expressed his frustration on the matter shortly before his tenure was probed and his appointment terminated by the present government on grounds of insubordination.
Magu, who once described Rivers State as “next to Lagos in terms of crimes” and the “headquarters of money laundering because there is a lot of oil money here,” vowed to contest the court order that Dr Odili obtained to stop the EFCC from investigating and prosecuting him for alleged money laundering.
“Nothing is going to stop us. Even the issue of the court order allegedly obtained by Dr Peter Odili and co, to stop the EFCC from investigation and prosecution is still at the Supreme Court. We are on it. We will follow it up,” Magu had said.
Although appointment to the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria is by seniority, with age factor playing a key role, there is no official evidence to show that the current CJN, Justice Tanko, would retire before Justice Odili.
Justice Odili is second to Justice Tanko in rank, but she is older. According to her bio-data, she is 69 years-old and due for retirement in 2022 by official rule when she turns 70. Justice Tanko is 67 years, meaning he still has three years to go. In fact, Justice Odili is the oldest Justice of the current 16-membership list of the apex court.
The others are, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola 63; Musa Datijo, 64; Muhammad Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, 63; Chima Centus Nweze, 63; Justice Amina Augie, 68; Justice Ejembi Eko, 69; Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji, 65; Justice John Inyang Okoro, 62; Justice Lawal Garba, 62; Helen M. Ogunwumiju, 65; Addu Aboki, 63; I.M. M. Saulawa, 62; Adamu Jauro, 65; Tijjani Abubakar, 68; and Emmanuel A. Agim, 61.
The other view that Justice Tanko is indisposed cannot be proved as he is said to be as fit as a fiddle.
“Tanko is still there. I was with him two weeks ago when I went to see him and we spoke on crucial legal issues facing the country. He spoke clearly and uprightly. So I do not know where these conjectures are coming from,” Ozekhome said.
A former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, Chief Olabode George, however described the incident as a further illustration that nobody is safe in the country.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the successful conduct of the party’s convention in Lagos last Friday, George described the invasion as “a testimony about our state of aberration and uncertainties”.
He went on, “It will not be an easy task. Look around you. The nation is distempered in factional largeness. There are divisions everywhere. Bandits and no-gooders roam freely in all the corners of our nation.
“From the Savannah to the Atlantic, from the Niger Delta to the hills and the forests, dark arbiters of ruin and destruction freely plow their dirty trade, sowing discord and destruction everywhere.
“These dark avatars are not interested in the unity of our nation. They are indifferent to the happiness of our people and they want to drag us all down towards the grim slope of perdition.
“They must be stopped. They must be halted. They must be confronted with the superiority of our own bright vision”.
The Justice Onnoghen Treatment?
Investigation also shows that linking the incident with the removal of the former CJN, Mr Walter Onnoghen, from office in controversial circumstances does not hold water, given that Justice Odili would retire before the current CJN, Tanko, many months before the 2023 general election. Also, she does not pose a political threat beyond what is seen as an alleged attempt to stall her husband’s trial by the EFCC.
EFCC’s Renewed War
On September 15, 2021, a month and two weeks before the drama unfolded on House No 9, Mataima, Street, Abuja, the EFCC had signaled its intention to re-open the probe of Dr Peter Odili. The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) claimed, in response to a suit filed by the former Rivers State governor in a Federal High Court, Abuja, challenging the seizure of his passport by the NIS, that the EFCC had “placed Peter Odili on its watch list.”
Counsel to the NIS, Jimoh Adamu, said he came to court to file a counter affidavit to oppose Odili’s suit, while Ifedayo Adedipe for Odili did not oppose the request for adjournment of the suit.
“Part of the war on this matter is to embarrass, harass, intimidate and that was the agenda on the raiding of Justice Odili’s home,” said the government source.
Battle Of Wits
There is no doubt that a battle of wits has taken off with the Nigeria Bar Association wading in to whip the different parties into line. The National President of the association, which is the umbrella body for lawyers in the country, Mr Olumide Akpata, said the NBA would constitute a panel to unravel who authorised the search warrant reportedly issued by Mr Emmanuel Iyanna, the Chief Magistrate in Abuja and ascertain the level of involvement of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, with the promise to report Malami to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee and the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, which would consider if the AGF should be stripped of his title of a senior advocate, if found culpable.
Ozekhome said, “NBA for too long has been prostate and not barking. Under Akpata, the organisation has notched up some achievements. The NBA is right in calling the AGF to order and putting up a petition against him because he is first a lawyer and answerable to the NBA. The judiciary has been the whipping child of governments since the colonial times. It should be able to bark and bite. In a democracy, it is an independent arm of government and should not allow itself to be intimidated by either the judiciary or the legislature.”
In his reaction, the spokesman for the AGF, Dr Umar Gwandu Gwandu, said the move by the NBA was pre-emptive as security agencies were still investigating the affair.
Gwandu reportedly said, “Members of the committee will not be dancing to the tune of mischief makers to satisfy the whimsical aspersions of certain individuals.
“By saying ‘to take action against the AGF’ makes it confusingly pre-emptive, antithetical to doctrines of fair hearing and presumption of innocence, prejudicial, conclusive and does not give any room for further investigation at a time when the matter is being investigated by relevant agencies.”
As at press time, no substantial head way had been made on the drama. The Office of the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, which had denied authorising the magistrate to issue the purported search warrant, is yet to empanel members of the committee to probe what transpired as at Friday November 6, 2021, a week after the ugly incident and five days after it denied any involvement. The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali, said the force had intensified investigation to unmask the unknown security personnel that carried out the invasion.
CSP Lawrence Ajodo, who led the operation to the Odilis’ home, has been identified and suspended by the police authorities. He reportedly wore and identity sign by AGF office.
Uncertainty will continue to hang over the matter until the various investigation and probe panels come to equity with their findings. Until then, the Supreme Court’s position will still remain the most probable reason for the invasion.
“Although there have emerged discordant tunes from the various security agencies that allegedly participated in the dastardly act, we are not lying low on this dehumanising treatment meted out to one of our own.
“We have commenced a full-scale independent investigation to unravel the true masquerades behind the mystery as well as the real motives behind the whole incident,” the supreme court statement said.
About the Author
Amos Esele is the Deputy Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
