By John Austin Unachukwu
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Abuja-based lawyer and former Publicity Secretary Nigerian Bar Association ( NBA) Abuja branch, Mr Silas Joseph Onu, has commended Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama SAN for condemning the unwarranted invasion of the Supreme Court Justice, Hon. Justice Mary Ukaego Peter Odili’s Abuja residence on Friday last week.
Speaking on the Hashtag” NBAShouldNotBeMortgaged” the activist lawyer stated: I commend Chief JK Gadzama SAN for speaking up when it mattered on the invasion of Hon. Justice Mary Nwakaego Odili’s residence. This is a confirmation that he is not bound to any political interest or hindered by his closeness to politicians.
Chief Gadzama had earlier in a statement signed by him stated that the continuous raid of residences of judicial officers will lead to anarchy if not arrested.
The statement reads: “On Friday, October 29, 2021, while in Port Harcourt for the Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, I received with much disappointment the news of the raid on Honourable Justice Mary Peter Odili’s residence. I have waited patiently to read further on the possible justifiable rationale for such Gestapo show of might, but all to no avail. It is now more than 48 hours after the said raid and information is still scarce and far in-between as to the rationale for the raid on the residence of the second most senior judicial officer in Nigeria. It is a case of loud deafening silence and a game of blame game. No one seems to be claiming responsibility and no one seems to be offering further explanations on who is/was responsible for such a dastardly act of rascality and impunity aimed at soiling the garment of our judiciary.
“These trends of habitual unjustified raids on the residences of Judicial Officers, the concomitant unexplained reasons and continuous rape of due process, spell imminent doom and anarchy if not urgently arrested. Lest our collective silence be misinterpreted as our collective approval, this is a further call that the tenets upon which our society was founded be restored: rule of law. We must take heed to the words of Martin Luther King Jnr, when he said that ‘the ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. The danger of our silence in the face of apparent injustice and anarchy cannot be overemphasized; it is the utmost form of betrayal.”
Chief Gadzama commended the NBA for condemning the act and convening an emergency meeting for possible steps regarding the issue. He emphatically condemned the raid of the Supreme Court Justice. According to him, the raid was aimed at Intimidating the judiciary. He called for an investigation on the matter for and those find culpable be punished.
He said, “I must therefore commend the Nigerian Bar Association, under the leadership of Olumide Akpata, for issuing a statement, and with the speed of light too, therein condemning such act of rascality and taking further steps to convene an emergency meeting of the NBA National Executive Committee solely to discuss this issue and take a definitive stand on behalf of the NBA. While I commend this initiative, I must emphasize that all must be emphatic that it is gravely unpardonable to assault, trample upon, attempt to intimidate and/ or harass the judiciary which is the last hope of the common man. Indeed, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
“It is even more abhorrent that the rationale for the present raid on Hon Justice Mary Peter Odili’s residence has not been explained or justified, the incident could therefore only be interpreted as an attack on the Judiciary, possibly designed to intimidate and ridicule the Judiciary.
“We must remember that Nigeria’s democracy is not made up of only the executive, but the legislature and the judiciary. Borrowing from the words of Caroline Kennedy, which now reflect the needs and realities
of our space, ‘the very bedrock of our democracy.
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