House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary has called for urgent discreet investigation into the siege laid to the residence of Justice Mary Peter-Odili.
Odili is a justice of Supreme Court of Nigeria.
The committee said the investigation will help to unmask the perpetrators believed to be security operatives.
The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Onofiok Luke, in a statement he personally signed, yesterday, condemned the siege, saying it was an action capable on setting the Executive and Judicial arms of government on a warpath.
He said that the siege was a repudiation of judicial independence and an assault on the sanctity of the nation’s judiciary.
The statement read: “It is mind-boggling that in the dusk of October 29, 2021, the Judiciary was once again exposed to public opprobrium, due to the uncanny manner in which the residence of the Honourable Justice Mary Peter-Odili of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, was invaded by law enforcement officials purportedly on an assignment to execute a search warrant, issued by a Magistrate.
“Also disturbing is the fact that the said warrant was revoked by the issuing Magistrate who had discovered that it was procured by the Applicant on the premises of misrepresented facts.
“As a committee currently interfacing with the Judiciary for an improved judicial reform and justice system, we wish to lend our voice once again, to the repeated call by His Lordship; the Honourable Justice Tanko Muhammed CJN, on all Judicial Officers on the need to exercise more caution in issuing ex-parte, conflicting and questionable orders that are capable of bringing disrepute to our Justice system.
“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 empathize 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 the 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 siege is reminiscent of the 2016 incident, wherein the beat of the night, security agencies invaded private residences of judicial officers, which subsequently turned out as an underserved phenomenon, and a dent on our professed independence of the judiciary, and demanding protection for our judges.
“As we already know, the judiciary harps on due process in the dispensation of justice and the House Committee on the Judiciary avows to collaborate with the judiciary and relevant stakeholders to secure the nation’s democracy, since the confidence and respect of citizens in the judiciary may likely wane if the incidence of this nature continues unchecked.
“We, therefore, condemn in totality such ignoble action, and pledge to every effort at ensuring the sanctity of the nation’s judiciary while giving our continuous support to the independence of the judiciary”.

The Rivers State Government has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the deeply failed portions of the East-West Road, especially the Akpajo-Eleme axis which has completely broken down and constituting death trap and huge embarrassment to Nigeria.
This call was made last Monday in Port Harcourt in a statement issued by the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Barrister Emma Okah.
According to Okah, the East-West Road belongs to the Federal Government and the Akpajo-Eleme axis leads directly to critical economic infrastructure like the Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne, Indorama Petrochemical and Fertilizer Companies, Port Harcourt Refinery, Eleme, Notore Fertiliser Company, among others.
“But sadly, while other federal roads in the country are receiving fair attention of the Federal Government, the East-West Road has remained neglected, abandoned and left to further deteriorate”, he lamented.
Okah further said that it was for the reason of acute dilapidation of the road that the Governor Nyesom Wike-led administration, together with some stakeholders, made huge contributions to stabilise the portion of the road with the expectation that the Federal Government will take a cue from there.
He regretted that “unfortunately, and as it has been our lot in this administration, the Federal Government neither appreciated these patriotic efforts and sacrifices of the state government and the other contributors nor repaired the road.
“The East-West Road has become a source of anguish to the people of Rivers State, and our lamentations have only fallen on deaf ears,” Okah said.
The commissioner noted that the deep decay of the road has resulted in huge loss of man-hour, accidents involving trucks and attendant loss of property and human lives which could have been avoided by repairing this axis of the road, hoping that this insensitivity on the part of the Federal Government of Nigeria will end soon.
“For the records, the East-West Road is the most economically strategic road in the Niger Delta region,” Okah reminded the Federal Government.

Susan Serekara-Nwikhana