A
new report has established the real reason why officials of the Department of
State Services raided the homes of serving court judges.
An
investigative report by Premium Times has shown that why the State Security
Service raided the homes of some senior Nigerian judges late Friday and early
Saturday was to gather evidence of corruption. This revelation was made by
officials.
According
to the report, the officials revealed that the raids on multiple residences in
Abuja, Port Harcourt, Gombe, Kano, Enugu and Calabar, were not aimed at
arresting the judges.
An
official said the operation was ordered after months of investigations, during
which the secret police established credibly that the affected judges were
involved in questionable financial dealings.
The
SSS initially submitted parts of its findings to the regulatory body, the
National Judicial Council.
According
to Premium Times, officials said the SSS moved in after the council merely
recommended two of the judges for retirement, and not prosecution.
The
council also refused to cooperate with the SSS as the agency launched wider
investigations into the cases for more evidence.
The
source explained that judges whose homes were raided include Adeniyi Ademola,
and Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court in Abuja as well as Sylvester
Ngwuta and John Okoro of the Supreme Court.
In
Kano, the source said the home of a high court judge, Kabiru Auta, was raided
along with another residence in Enugu belonging to the Chief Judge of the
state, A. I. Umezulike.
The
two judges were earlier recommended for retirement recently by the NJC.
The
residences of a Gombe State judge, Muazu Pindiga, as well as that of his
counterpart from Sokoto state, Justice Samia, were also raised during the
operation.
