The House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary on Sunday flayed last Friday’s siege to the Abuja residence of Justice Mary Odili of the Supreme Court of Nigeria by law enforcement officials purportedly on an assignment to execute a search warrant, issued by a magistrate.
In a statement made available in Abuja by the chairman of the committee, Hon. Onofiok Luke, the committee described the invasion as “a repudiation of the judicial independence and an assault on the sanctity of the nation’s judiciary.”
According to the committee, “this unfortunate development is also a wake-up call to tighten administrative and supervisory control over the operations of law enforcement agencies in the country.
“To this end, we empathise with the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation who is constitutionally accountable for the actions and inactions of the law enforcement agents that purportedly executed the said warrant, placing on the AGF, the unavoidable burden of defending his office before the populace.
“On this note, the House of Representative Committee on Judiciary calls for a discreet investigation to unravel the persons behind this ignoble act, which is capable of straining the existing relationship between the Judiciary and the Executive arms of our democratic government.”
The committee, while condemning in totality such ignoble action, pledged to carry out every effort at ensuring the sanctity of the nation’s judiciary and assured its continuous support to the independence of the nation’s judiciary.
