Chief Justice of Nigeria, Ibrahim Tanko has finally reacted to the invasion of Supreme Court Justice, Mary Odili’s home by men who claimed to be security operatives and acting on a court order.
Sharing his stance at an event to mark the 2021/2022 legal year of the supreme court, the CJN described the home invasion as embarrassing and further stated that the judiciary’s silence “should never be mistaken for stupidity or weakness”.
Tanko further averred that “no law permits anyone to invade, subdue or overawe any Nigerian citizen in his or her residence with a flimsy, fraudulently-obtained search warrant.”
He also directed that henceforth, an arrest warrant must be issued with the knowledge and approval of the chief judge of the respective state or federal high court as the case may be.
Tanko said:
“No one, irrespective of his or her status or position in the country, should test our will because the consequences of such unwarranted provocation will be too dire to bear.
On a very sad note, I must say, we were jolted with embarrassing news of the invasion of the official residence of honorable justice Mary Peter Odili on Friday, October 29, by men suspected to be security operatives, acting on a search warrant.
The said warrant was purportedly obtained from an Abuja magistrate court under questionable circumstances.
I must make it known to all and sundry that we have had enough dosage of such embarrassment and harassment of our judicial officers across the country and we can no longer take any of such shenanigans.
By the nature of our work, we are a conservative but not conquered species and should not be pushed further than this by any individual, institution, or agency of the government.
With time, those taking the judiciary as a mere weakling will soon realize that it is from the calmest seas we often experience the fiercest storms.
The time to oppress, suppress, and intimidate judicial officers is gone. We shall begin to resist any clandestine attempt to silence or ridicule us to oblivion.
Nigeria, to the best of my knowledge, is not a lawless society. We should begin to do things that will project us favorably and rightly too, to the international community.
No law permits anyone to invade, subdue or overawe any Nigerian citizen in his or her residence with a flimsy, fraudulently-obtained search warrant.
We are making efforts now to ensure that henceforth, every search or arrest warrant must be issued with the knowledge and approval of the chief judge of the respective state or federal high court as the case may be.”
