The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Tanko Muhammad, is warning individuals and agencies of the government against any form of harassment and embarrassment of judicial officers in the country.
Justice Muhammad, who gave the caution in Abuja at a special session organized to herald the formal commencement of the 2021/2022 legal year of the Supreme Court, appraised the performance of the judiciary in the just-concluded year, was very specific about the siege on the Abuja residence of Justice Mary Odili of the apex court.
“I must say, we were jolted with embarrassing news of the invasion of the official residence of one of our brother Justices, Honourable Justice Mary Peter Odili, on Friday 29th October 2021, by men suspected to be security operatives, acting on a search warrant purportedly obtained from an Abuja Magistrate’s Court under the questionable circumstance,” he said.
“I must make it known to all and sundry that we have had enough dosage of such embarrassments and harassments of our judicial officers across the country and we can no longer take any of such shenanigans. The silence of the judiciary should never be mistaken for stupidity or weakness.
“By the nature of our work, we are 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,” he warned.
He further stated that no one, irrespective of his or her status or position in the country, should test the will of the judiciary, saying the consequence of such unwarranted provocation would be too dire to bear.
Justice Muhammad expressed that the judiciary would begin to resist any clandestine attempt to silence or ridicule judicial officers to oblivion.
Recall that on October 29, a team of security operatives made up of soldiers and policemen, laid siege to the Abuja home of Mary Odili, a Justice of the Supreme Court, claiming to have a search warrant and identifying themselves as members of a joint task force.
The invading forces, however, could not gain access into the residence as they met with formidable resistance from the justice’s police guards.
Several suspicions that were raised against the Attorney General of the Federation Aboubakar Malami on complicity with the siege, and accusations against other security agencies, such as the Economic Financial Crimes Commission and the DSS, were debunked by the involved bodies.
Final results of the investigations are yet to be revealed to the public, as it remains uncertain what transpired in the incident.
