Trip To Idi Amin’s Uganda …Of Attacks On Unfriendly Judges

Last Saturday morning, Nigerians woke up to the news that a detachment of heavily armed men of the Directorate of State Services (DSS) and the Police attempted to abduct a Federal High Court Judge resident in Port Harcourt. And that in a bid to defend the embattled Judge, Rivers State Executive Governor, Nyesom Wike was manhandled by the assailants.
Many considered the news unbelievable, because judges belong to the third arm of government, the Judiciary which has its own code of conduct and ethics. Corrupt and undisciplined judges are a responsibility of the National Judicial Council (NJC) which reserves the right to investigate and punish such erring judges.
In performance of that duty, the NJC recently retired and sacked some judges and opened investigation into the background of Judges who gave conflicting judgements on same issues, with a view to ascertaining their level of compromise.
This is why it came to many as a huge shock that the DSS and the Police, all part of the executive arm could launch such affront on a sitting judge without recourse to the NJC for proper trial.
This kind of Gestapo-stuff attack, many thought ended with the Idi Amin’s Uganda and should not be repeated, especially in a democratic Nigeria. Many think this may be an unfriendly judge, who the powers that be want to teach a lesson, same lesson daily thought opposition politicians in the name of fighting corruption.
Among victims are Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, (PDP), Ex-Minister Godsday Orubebe, (PDP), former Chief Security Adivser (CSA), Col Sambo Dasuki (rtd) PDP, among several others. Interestingly, none of the former State governors who jumped ship to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the PDP has been investigated, despite the many petitions against them.
What that translates to is that no matter how dark a governor’s sins may be, once we defects to the ruling APC his past is wiped clean. He is a new creature fit for eternal life. A life without probes and that of impunity.
Is this the democracy that ushered an opposition party in governance for the first time in the history of Nigeria? Or is it another Military rule, where perceived enemies are incarcerated at will by the powers that be?
Whither the civil society organizations? Whither the civil rights activists? Whither vocal Nigerians who badmouthed the former government to its grave?
On our last check, only the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has spoken against the arrest of two other judges after Saturday’s midnight invasion of their homes. The NBA declared a state of emergency in the Judiciary and asked President Muhammadu Buhari to order the immediate release of the affected judges or there would be consequences”.
Addressing newsmen alongside four former Presidents of the NBA, President Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN) said two Supreme Court Justices Iyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta were “abducted”, with their families, adding that he had yet to have full details of other judges who could have been involved.
Mahmoud said NBA condemned what it termed the Gestapo-style operation of the DSS and announced the constitution of an emergency or crisis management team comprising past presidents to engage the government.
Mahmoud, according to the Vanguard said, it was not the responsibility of the DSS to arrest judges and described the DSS action as an unconstitutional means of intimidating the Judiciary and undermining its independence.
“I want to emphasise again that we are not under military rule and we cannot accept this unholy event and Gestapo-style operation”, Mahmoud warned.
According to him, “Any issues affecting the Judicial officers, there are established procedures of handling them and we demand that this constitutional process be obeyed”, and demanded the immediate release of the affected Judges.
“The release must be done immediately and without any conditions. Two, we demand that the Department of State Services (DSS) should limit itself to its statutory and constitutional responsibilities”, Mahmoud said, adding, “I’ll be meeting with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) tonight or tomorrow. There will be consequences should these demands are not met”.
But wait! Who ordered the arrest of the judges? Who tried and found them guilty? If they are yet to be tried, who would try them? The executive?
What are the consequences of this siege on an arm of government, as important as the Judiciary, believed to be the last hope of the common man?
An attack on the Judiciary is not merely an attack on Lawyers and Judges, it is indeed an attack against civilization, democracy and the rule of law. It is infact, a siege on the Nigerian people.
The immediate consequence of the action will be to intimidate incorrigible judges to join the bandwagon and do only the bidding of the ruling party, or be arrested and assaulted. The other is to use the clampdown to enlist friendly judges who would, at all times, offer favourable judgments to the power that be.
Otherwise, what is the rationale behind the attacks on judges? If the executive arm discovers an action it considers corrupt and wishes such Judge be punished there are laid out constitutional provisions and not assume the role of a judge in its own case.
The Buhari administration needs to be reminded for the umpteenth time that this is not a military rule where the Head of State is the maximum ruler, prosecutor and judge at the same time. The administration must therefore submit itself to the rule of law and invest on democratic growth, because the recent attack on judicial officers is not only undemocratic, it is unnecessary, vexatious and primitive.
First, it was the use of the Code of Conduct Bureau to effect leadership change in the Senate by trying Senate President Bukola Saraki before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), over questions bordering on party discipline but tied to false declaration of assets.
The protracted case at some point pitched the entire National Assembly against the Executive. Infact, it is not yet Uhuru, as both the Federal government and the Senate seem to find themselves in a marriage of convenience, with each waiting for when the other would strike first.
This makes the attack on the Judiciary one too many. Its marks of military adventurism and has no place in a democracy. Corruption is a crime which punishment is adequately provided for in our statute books. Therefore, any war against corruption must be fought according to the law and not transport Nigeria back into history, when, might was right.
Political might, it must be emphasized, belongs to the people and must not be used against its owners.
This is what the military siege against officers of the judicial arm translates into- an abuse of the people’s power. Such must be avoided, same way Governor Wike intervened in the foiled attempt to abduct another judge.
My Agony is against one of the most annoying fallacies of the kind of federalism Nigeria operates, and which makes the Governor, Chief Security Officer (CSO) of his State, while infact the power is exercised randomly and at will by many others, on the orders of a single individual, not the CSO. Methinks State Police remains the only answer to the trip back to military rule.

Soye Wilson Jamabo