THE Supreme Court claimed that the security agents who invaded the Abuja home of Justice Mary Odili, wife of former governor of Rivers State, Peter, were on a mission to either kill or maim her.
Recall that some invaders had on Friday night laid siege on the Justice’s home in the Maitama area of Abuja over alleged illegal activities in the building.
The security agents, who went to the building with a search warrant, left one hour later when they didn’t find anything incriminating at the place.
In a statement signed by the Director of Press and Information, Festus Akande, yesterday, the apex court noted that the invasion of Justice Odili’s house was a reflection of a war situation and “appeared like a mission to kill or maim her.”
The statement read: “We are alarmed with the news of the unwarranted and despicable raid on the official residence of one of our senior justices in the Supreme Court, Hon. Justice Mary Peter Odili, JSC, CFR, on Friday, October 29, 2021, in a Gestapo manner.
“The raid, unfortunately, depicted a gory picture of war by some armed persons suspected to be security operatives representing different agencies of government, who seemed to have come to kill and maim their target under the guise of undertaking a search whose warrant was questionable and baseless.
“We are deeply saddened and taken aback by this uncivilized and shameful show of primitive force on an innocent judicial officer that has so far spent several years of her productive life serving the country she calls her own.
“The judiciary deserves respect as the third arm of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and should be respected and treated as such.
“We have had a full dosage of this fusillade of unwarranted and unprovoked attacks on our judicial officers and even facilities across the country and we say it loudly now that enough is enough.
“There have emerged discordant tunes from the various security agencies that allegedly participated in the dastardly act.
“The Nigerian judiciary cannot only bark, but can also bite.
“This incident brought back, rather painfully, the ugly memory of the October 2016 midnight invasion of the homes of our respected justices with no satisfactory explanations as to the true motive behind such brazen assault on our collective sensibility.
“We call on the Inspector-General of Police of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to rise up to the occasion by carrying out a discreet investigation and make his findings known to the Nigerian public with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice as quickly as possible.
“We can no longer be treated with disdain and levity. The rule of law and constitutionality must govern our conduct so that we can tag along with the comity of nations and be taken seriously too.”
