Reps condemn the siege of Peter Odeili’s residence

The House Judiciary Committee has condemned the siege at Justice Peter-residence, Odili’s calling it a repudiation of judicial independence and an assault on the nation’s judiciary’s sanctity.

To that end, the Committee has called for a discreet investigation to uncover the perpetrators of the act, which he claims has the potential to strain the existing relationship between the Judiciary and Executive branches of government.

The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Onofiok Luke, stated in a statement, “It is mind-boggling that in the dusk of 29 October 2021, the Judiciary was once again exposed to public opprobrium, due to the uncanny manner in which the residence of the Honourable Justice Mary Peter-Odili of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, was invaded by law enforcement officials purportedly on an assignment to execute a search warrant, issued by a

According to him, what is troubling is that the said warrant was revoked by the issuing Magistrate after it was discovered that it was obtained by the Applicant on the basis of misrepresented facts.

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He stated that his Committee, which is currently interacting with the Judiciary for improved judicial reform and justice system, wished to add its voice to the repeated call by Honourable Justice Tanko Muhammed CJN, on all Judicial Officers to exercise greater caution in issuing ex-parte, conflicting, and questionable orders that are capable of bringing disrepute to the nation’s Justice system.

“This unfortunate development serves as a wake-up call to tighten administrative and supervisory control over the operations of the country’s law enforcement agencies.”

“To that end, we sympathize with the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation, who is constitutionally accountable for the actions and inactions of the law enforcement agents who purportedly executed the said warrant, putting the AGF in the unavoidable position of defending his office in front of the populace.”

“The siege is reminiscent of the 2016 incident, in which security agencies invaded the private residences of judicial officers in the middle of the night, which later turned out to be an underserved phenomenon, and a dent on our professed independence of the judiciary, and demanding protection for our judges.”

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“As we already know, the judiciary emphasizes due process in the administration of justice, and the House Committee on the Judiciary pledges to collaborate with the judiciary and relevant stakeholders to secure the nation’s democracy, because citizens’ trust and respect in the judiciary will likely dwindle if incidents of this nature continue unabated,” he added.

As a result, he pledges the committee’s efforts to ensure the sanctity of the nation’s judiciary while continuing to support the judiciary’s independence.