A Federal High Court Judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, has said he sees his arrest by the Department of State Services as a revenge by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
Ademola said this in a letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed.
The letter was dated October 11.
Ademola said his offense was that he ordered the arrest and detention of Malami over a professional misconduct while he was judge in Kano State between 2004 and 2007.
In the letter, Ademola said he was held for over 24 hours before he was told the reason why he was brought to the DSS office.
He said in the letter to the CJN: “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 Malami, whilst I was in Kano between 2004 and 2007 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with the intervention of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Kano branch the allegation of misconduct was later withdrawn by me.”
Ademola added that he was equally arrested by the DSS because he granted a former National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki, bail and freed the leader of the Independent People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
He said further in the letter: “…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 (DSS) 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 officially finally informed me that the search of my arrest were based on these three allegations; petition of Hon. Jenkins Duvie dated 4th of April 2016 to the National Judicial Council (NJC); 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, Lagos State through Senator Bola Tinubu.”
