PDP Decries Arrest Of Supreme Court Judges; Likens It To Facism + Dino Melaye Speaks


Sequel to the Friday evening cum early Saturday's raid and subsequent arrest of some Supreme Court Judges, The Nation's foremost opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has come open to condemn the action of the Department of State Services, vilifying the Federal Government and describing the arrests as a sign that the Nation 'as it were' is faced with a looming danger of plunging into fascism.
The party in a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye alleged the action of the security agency is an indication that the present administration,under President Buhari has shown zero respect for the the rule of law and the judiciary as a separate arm of government. While also poitning out that this development happens to be the 'first in history'' scenerio in the country where the judiciary would be subjected to such harassment by the executive arm of government amid a clear display of disdain.

 Below is the full import of the party's statement:

“Sometime in the early hours of October 8th, 2016 men of the Directorate of State Security (DSS) carried out Gestapo like invasions on the homes of a number of Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and the Federal High Court. The affected Justices of the Supreme Court were Sylvanus Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro. The affected Judges of the Federal High Court were Muazu Pindiga, Adeniyi Ademola, Abdullahi Liman and Nnamdi Dimgba.

 “At this time, Justices Ngwuta and Okoro of the Supreme Court and Justices Adeniyi & Pindiga had been abducted and detained. Justice Dimgba only escaped abduction because he was not at home at the time. 
“Justice Abdullahi’s abduction was prevented by the timely intervention of Governor Nyesom Wike, who insisted on the observance of the rule of law and the application of due process.

 “During the invasion, the Justices were manhandled and members of their families as well as their household staff beaten up.

 “This invasion is the latest in a series of actions taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration which reveal its disregard for the rule of law and its abject disdain for the Principle of Separation of Powers.

 “This inexorable slide into fascism began with the invasion of the Akwa Ibom State Government House by the self same DSS, the continued detention of several people despite Courts ordering their release, the invasion of the Ekiti State House of Assembly and detention of Hon. Akanni Afolabi and the invasion of the Zamfara State House of Assembly.

 “This slide into fascism has included a sustained attack on the leadership of the National Assembly as President Buhari has sought to break its independence and make it a rubber stamp to suit his will.

 “The government has no regard for the rule of law. They do not care about Court Orders. This Government has disregarded the Orders of the ECOWAS Court and every other Courts in the land and continue to detain Dasuki illegally. They continue to detain hundreds of Nigerians without bringing them to trial and against valid Court Orders.”

Lawmakers register their clear disapproval of these arrests of Judges.

In a similar development,Senator Dino Melaye , the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, On Sunday condemned in entirety the raid and subsequent arrest of the Judges by the DSS arguing that the operatives acted outside their jurisdiction and constitutional mandate.

 In Sen. Melaye's words: “I have studied the Act setting up DSS, Nigerian Intelligence Agency and DIA and can conclude that the DSS operatives went outside their core mandate. There is no doubt that many Judges are corrupt.

 “It is also important to state the need to sanitise the judiciary of corruption that make Judges not to give commercial rulings which create terrible precedence in our legal system. Judges have no immunity and can be tried and should be tried but the use of DSS is absolutely wrong.

 “The DSS operatives, even when they overstretched themselves and conducted investigations on the Judges, ought to hand over their findings to the appropriate institutions of government: the Police or National Judicial Council for prosecution and punishment.

 “The rule of law is a core value of governance and therefore must be guided jealousy. Prosecution of civil and corruption cases is not the responsibility of DSS. Internal security is the main duty of the DSS and they should stick to that. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

 The names of the judges that were brought in were given as:

  • Justice Sylvester Ngwuta (Supreme Court); 
  • Justice John Okoro (Supreme Court) and 
  • Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

While another judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba's residence was among those raided in the early hours of Saturday but could not be arrested.

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