There has been so much ado over the arrest of some suspected corrupt Judges and their planned arraignment. Interestingly, the opinions of Nigerians are divergent. Some say that the Department of State Security Service did not follow due process in arresting the judges. Others are of the opinion that the their human rights were violated and yet others say the DSS acted well as the judiciary has been riddled with corruption over the years.
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on its part, faulted a statement by the Department of State Services that arrested judges were invited for interrogation before a raid in their homes. At a press conference in Abuja last week, the president of the association Abubakar Mahmoud claimed that the DSS claim that two Supreme Court judges – Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro – were invited before the raid is false. Mahmoud also said that there were no formal complaints against these judges before the raid by the DSS. He further described the raid and arrest of the judges by the DSS as unconstitutional.
The National Judicial Council of Nigeria presented its position to the public last week and berated the DSS, describing its actions as an attempt to ridicule, harass and intimidate judges.
Interestingly, as the controversy raged, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested two more top judges, taking the number of judges so far picked up to nine. Justices Bashir Sukola and Ladan Manir of the Kaduna State High Court were arraigned in Kaduna state and taken to the DSS Headquarters in Abuja for further probe.
More heartwarming is the obvious fact that it is only some legal practitioners and judges that are rebuking the actions of the DSS. Majority of Nigerians are happy with the actions of the DSS. Tracing their arrest to President Muhammadu Buhari and the presidency makes the issue worse for the critics of the judges’ arrest because Nigerians are convinced beyond reasonable doubts that President Muhammadu Buhari is genuinely committed to route corruption out of the country. Nigerians are also aware that there is so much rot and corruption in the nation’s judiciary resulting in several cases of perversion of justice by the corrupt judges. The so-called dependence on NJC to handle such cases amount to mere papering the cracks and Nigerians are refusing to be cowed by the NJC’s position.
The claim by the Nigeria Judicial Council and some commentators that the DSS did not follow due process in the arrest of the suspects is laughable because the DSS who arrested the judges went with warrants of arrest to pick them up. They were arrested after investigations into their alleged corrupt dealings were investigated. Moreover there is no constitutional provision that provides the time law enforcement agents can arrest a suspect.
Once a judge has his or her hands soiled in corruption he is treated like a common criminal. Nigerians shouting are doing so because this is the first time a sting operation is carried out on judges. In the United States of America, a more advanced democracy than ours, similar sting operations were carried out by FIB and some of the judges were found guilty. Of the over thirteen judges arrested in the US, only two were not convicted all others are still serving jail terms. Some have completed theirs. It is certainly not the case of human rights violation as being claimed by some busy bodies. The judges know their level of involvement in the allegations for which they were arrested and to the best of our understanding so far, aside saying the DSS lied on their arrest notice or invitation, none of the judges have denied the allegations of corruption or money laundering leveled against them.
It is a shame that custodians of the law are attempting to hide under the garb of human rights to pull the wool over the faces of Nigerians, but this is an issue which will certainly sanitise the Nigerian judiciary that stinks of corruption.
Is it not a shame that the sting operations yielded a mind-boggling N93, 558,000.00, $530,087, £25,970, €5,680, from two Supreme Court Justices and three other judges arrested by the DSS? Another one had $2million in his house. Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro both of the Supreme Court , the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya , Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court and Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja have a duty of proving their innocence in court of competent jurisdiction devoid of any nonsensical professional cover-ups.
Coincidentally, one of the suspects, Justice Tsamiya had earlier been recommended by the National Judicial Commission (NJC) for retirement for meeting a litigant thrice and demanding N200million bribe. The commission also recommended the sack of Justice Auta for receiving N125million from a litigant through an account approved by him and recommended that he be handed over to the police for prosecution.
The huge amount of monies recovered from the homes of the judges is a national embarrassment and instead of the custodians of the nation’s grand norm to carry out deeper introspection, they chose to embark on name calling and unnecessary shielding of their colleagues.
The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesome Wike is even a worse offender and should be properly investigated for obstructing the arrest of the suspected corrupt judge in Rivers state with a view to arresting and prosecuting him immediately he steps out of office since he currently enjoys immunity. The Rivers State police commissioner who jumped up with trucks loads of police men to shield the judge should be seriously dealt with according to the extant rules of the Police Service commission. He is unfit to be a police Commissioner.
The DSS should immediately arraign all suspected judges and anyone found guilty of money laundering or corruption should be sent to prison to serve as a deterrence to others in the nation’s judiciary. I am glad too that the DSS is going ahead to arrest more of the suspected corrupt judges and the exercise should continue uninterrupted. All Nigerians know that corruption remains the cankerworm of our national life which has eaten deep into the fabrics of the nation’s judiciary and other sectors of our public life.
The judiciary ought to be the bastion of hope of the common man. But what do we find in Nigeria? Judgments are often given in favour of the highest bidder. The common man has long, tortuous journey to securing justice in such a way that some never get justice. Some cases remain pending for several years and decades without any head way. The Federal Government should continue the cleansing exercise in the nation’s judiciary and extend same to the Nigeria Police if the fight against corruption must progress in the country. The police and the judiciary must be substantially purged of corruption for investors to take Nigeria seriously and that is what Nigeria needs to progress to the next level.
Mr. Dan Owegie is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Edo State.
