Mixed reactions have continued to trail the arrest of some leading judges in several sting operations carried out by the Department of State Service (DSS) across the country.
Mr Yinka Folarin, the Chairman of the Ogun chapter of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Mr Yinka Folarin, told newsmen that the incident was a clampdown on the judiciary.
Folarin said the manner in which the DSS officials invaded and broke into the residences of the affected judges violated their fundamental human rights.
“I believe there are laid down rules to effect such arrests and I think officials of the EFCC should have invited them if they have such reports of financial malpractice which might have indicted them.
“A suspect should be treated as such and not as a criminal before conviction,’’ he said.
The Secretary of Abeokuta branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Samuel Obafemi, also criticised the manner of arrest of the judges, saying, “proper procedure was not followed’’.
“The DSS has not proven that the judges were invited and refused to honour the invitation.
“This is the height of impunity and it is dangerous to our democracy,’’ he said.
An Abeokuta-based lawyer, Mr Mutiu Agboke, defended the action of the DSS, saying, “the operations of the judiciary as an arm of government is also being regulated by another arm of government’’.
Agboke said that the pertinent issues of concern were what the intentions were and whether due process was followed.
He said since the DSS had said that they had obtained necessary warrant of arrest in respect of allegations of professional misconduct and financial impropriety, the actions could be defended.
“If you look at the relevant section under the Administration of Criminal Justice Act in Nigeria, any security official is empowered to enter into any premises to discover any guise of criminality that is being perpetrated.
“It is not action against judicial officials; it is an action that is being pursued against corrupt judicial officers.
“I have not said everybody is corrupt but if there is an information available to security agencies that a judicial officer is corrupt, he should face the full wrath of the law,’’ Agboke said.
Similarly, Mr Benson Enikuemehin, a lawyer and former Commissioner, representing Ondo State on the board of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said the arrest of the judges was in tandem with the rule of law.
Enikuemehin told newsmen in Akure that the only contentious issue was the manner in which the arrest was carried out.
“ Anyone that commits an offence should be arrested and since judges don’t have any immunity, the arrest is not in dispute.
“The main issue is that the time and manner in which the security agencies carried out their arrest.
“Judges involved are of high profile, ordinarily, there will not have been any issue to discuss if they are low profile judges,’’ Enikueehim said.
Also, a member of the Judicial Service Commission in Ondo State, Olanrewaju Kazeem, said the anti-corruption campaign of President Muhammadu Buhari should be supported.
“I am saying that corruption should be fought to its barest minimum and these judges are alleged to have committed infractions and are not above the law.
“However, there are better ways of dealing with them instead of arresting them in the night. There should be civility because these judges will not run away.
“The way they are treated shows that we are indeed in a third world country,’’ he said.
Mr Waheed Lawal, the National Vice Chairman of National Conscience Party (NCP), South West, described the arrest of the judges by the DSS as condemnable.
Lawal said in Osogbo that the judiciary remained an independent arm of government, adding that the NJC ought to have handled the matter.
“It is not the duty of DSS to harass or embarrass any judicial official because there are procedures in handling such matters.
“With this action, they are taking us back to the era of the military. It is uncalled for and I will not accept this,’’ Lawal said.
Mr Adigun Agbaje, a legal practitioner in Osogbo, said the main focus of democracy as a system of government was inclined toward freedom and liberty.
He argued that the extant laws of Nigeria proclaim a suspect innocent until the court of competent jurisdiction decides otherwise.
Agbaje explained that the judiciary might be on trial if such “clamp down’’ continues against people on the bench.
Also, a law lecturer at the Osun State University, Jacob Aina, said, “Law by its intrinsic essence regulates and moderates people’s behaviours to prevent anarchy.
“Going by the philosophy of law, its final focus and destination is justice.
“In that light, it is a global conception that “peace is practically elusive without justice, and in the absence of peace within a geographical location or political entity, like Nigeria, it means national security has been threatened.
“Nothing could have threatened our national security than the display of justice for sale at different courts of competent jurisdiction, including the Supreme Court.
“It is in that wise that the arrests were necessary and in line and appropriate,’’ he opined.
An Ilorin-based legal practitioner, Mr Abubakar Abdullateef, described the arrest of the judges by the DSS as good for democracy.
Abdullateef said in Ilorin that the arrest was normal as the judiciary deserves to be fortified.
Abayomi Ajayi, an activist, said the action was long overdue, adding that any reasonable Nigerian should support the action.
“If you are suspecting somebody of fraud, you can’t tell the person you are coming. This is my opinion and I don’t think it is proper for the DSS to inform them they are coming.
“If they inform them they are coming, it amounts to asking them to evacuate the money,’’ Ajayi said.
Ajayi was of the opinion also that the crusade must not be limited to judges handling election cases alone, but extended to all the arms of the judiciary.
He wondered why the judges were resisting arrest, saying they should have obliged the DSS and if not found wanting sue the DSS for damages.
On the reported threat by the NBA to boycott the courts, Ajayi said this would be wrong.
“If they boycott the courts, we will know they are the ones delaying the progress of the country,’’ Ajayi said, while advising that the fight should be extended to other sectors of the country.
Dr Bashir Omipidan, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin, said there was nothing wrong with the operation of the DSS once it was established that they had bench warrant to effect the arrest.
Omipidan told newsmen in Ilorin that everybody must consider the incidence of corruption a great challenge and support efforts to check it.
“The president has said it that our law had made the fight against corruption difficult. So, we just have to act to rid the country of the mess,’’ Omipidan said.
He, however, charged the DSS to arraign the suspects in court soon having revealed that they had made useful statements.
On the threat of the NBA to boycott court proceedings, the lecturer asked the association to bring out evidence that the process was illegal.
But, NBA Chairman of the Ilorin, Malam Manzuma Issa, said that the branch aligned itself with the position of the national secretariat.
Issa told pressmen that if the national body had taken a position he had nothing against it.
He also condemned the reported invasion of the judges’ residences, describing it as a war against the judiciary
In Ado-Ekiti, a legal practitioner, Tajudeen Akingbola, commended the DSS action on point of law, saying the incident had shown in practical terms that no one was above the law.
Another lawyer, Ibrahim Olanrewju, said criminal matters, especially those that have to do with corruption, had no special preference for status.
According to him, there is no way the DSS could have given notice of a visit and consequent arrest to the affected judges as being suggested in some quarters.
Also contributing, Mr Taiwo Olatunbosun, who is the Ekiti APC spokesperson, told newsmen that the arrest of the top judges was an indication that the war against corruption had no boundary.
But, the Commissioner for Justice, Mr Owoseni Ajayi and a former NBA National Secretary General, Mr Obafemi Adewale, condemned the action.
Adewale told reporters that the manner in which the action was carried out amounted to “muzzling’’ the top echelon of the judiciary.
Similarly, the PDP Publicity Secretary in Ekiti, Jackson Adebayo, said the action of the DSS showed that it lacked respect for the judiciary.
Mr Fola Awonusi, an Ibadan-based lawyer, condemned the action of the DSS in raiding the premises of the judges, saying it was illegal and unlawful.
Awonusi said that the DSS was not constitutionally empowered to arrest on matters of corruption or misconduct but on matters relating to state security.
He said that the DSS should have forwarded the allegation against the judges to the NJC being the body constitutionally empowered to try the judges.
He said that the DSS had violated the fundamental human rights of the judges because proper procedure was not followed.
Another lawyer, Mr Ibrahim Bolomode, however, expressed support for the action of the DSS, saying if the judges were earlier invited the money recovered from them might not have been made possible.
Bolomode said that the recovered money would serve as concrete evidence for the DSS to prove the allegations against the judges.
No comments:
Post a Comment