Emeka Obegolu, SAN Demands Public Apology From CP Adeoye For Alleging Judiciary Corruption

A stakeholder of the Nigerian Bar Association, indigenous to the Obeledu community of Anambra State, Chief Dr. Emeka Obegolu SAN has responded to the allegations of corruption imputed against the Judiciary by the Honourable Commissioner of Police, CP Aderemi Adeoye of aiding influential Anambrarians to secure the release of arrested cultists and criminals in the state.

Recall that during the Honourable Commissioner’s visit to the Anambra NUJ Press Centre in Awka for the April Congress of the Union, CP Aderemi Adeoye asking aloud, remarked that “could you imagine that the cultists we arrested, charged to court, and got remanded in prison custody, that some powerful locals are going to the Judiciary to lobby to get them released? And some have been released. And they are the ones unleashing this mayhem again! That is number one…”

In his reaction, the revered Learned Silk remarked that “the Honourable Commissioner of Police should know better that his comment is highly defamatory of the Judiciary and has enormous tendencies to paint the Judiciary black in the eyes of the common man.

This callous and unguarded statement has far-reaching detrimental consequences both to the noble profession of law, and the sanity of the society generally. First, more than the Commissioner of Police realizes, the misguided public may resort to the era of jungle justice if they feel that the Judiciary who they believe is the last hope of the common man perverts the course of justice. Again, the Honourable Commissioner of Police has succeeded in creating the impression that he is afraid to name the “influential Anambrarians” but does not have regard for the Judiciary. This, on its own, is indeed worrisome”.

Further expressing his fears and concerns on the matter and making a demand for public apology to the Judiciary, Chief Dr. Emeka Obegolu SAN stated that “apparently, the Honourable Commissioner of Police having made delicate statements of this nature knows these influential Anambrarians. I therefore call on him to mention these influential Anambrarians who have with the aid of the Judiciary, perverted the course of Justice, or immediately render a public apology to the Judiciary. More than ever, we must jettison name-calling the Judiciary on every wrong in the society.”