By Uche Amunike
A Civil Rights movement known as Anti-Corruption Network (ATN) has demanded, Thursday, that the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba makes all reports of the panel set up by the police hierarchy in charge of investigating the raid on the home of Justice Mary odili of the Supreme Court by security operatives, public.
The ATN made it clear that refusal of making the report public would necessitate them to take legal actions in order to see that the investigation report of the raid is publicly known to Nigerians. They stressed that they will not just stand by and watch, but will rather be alert and ready to use every opportunity within the ambit of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provided by democracy to see that the needful is done.
Former Chairman, Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory and Executive Secretary of the ATN, Senator Dino Melaye, made this clear during a press conference in Abuja.
Speaking to journalists, he expressed his shock at how the residence of a highly placed Judicial officer like Odili will be invaded in such a manner by security agents.
He stated that Justice Mary Odili is the second most senior judicial officer in the country and that invading her home in that manner served as a mockery of democratic tenets and an assault on the judiciary, democracy and rule of law.
Hear him: ‘The Anti-Corruption Network sees this invasion as the height of corruption and executive recklessness targeted at intimidating the judiciary. The raid is highly condemnable and should not be glossed over by any responsible government. Therefore, we urge the Federal Government to conduct a thorough investigation into the sad incident and take needed actions against those found culpable’.
The organization commended the inspector-general of police, Usman Baba for forming a panel to investigate the raid at Justice Mary Odili’s residence and also for making arrests. He however urged the Inspector General of Police to ensure that the reports of all the investigations into the matter are made public, in other to give transparency a chance.
They also made it clearly known that if the findings of the investigation are not made public, they will be ready to head to the law courts and take legal actions so as to ensure that investigation report of the raid is known to the general public.
They made the plea to the Federal government and inspector General of Police, citing that in an unjust society silence is regarded a crime.
Recall that a search warrant was issued by a Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Ayanna of Wuse Zone 6 Magisterial Division and brought by officials that claimed to come from the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The search warrant was signed by Ayanna and based on an affidavit by a whistleblower named Aliyu Umar who claimed that there were illegal activities going on at the home of Justice Mary Odili at No 9, Imo Street, Maitama Abuja.
It was based on this search warrant that the Joint Panel Recovery Team, under the Ministry of Justice headed to Justice Mary Odili’s residence, but reportedly resisted.
