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Justice Odili: Why Malami Cannot Set Up Probe Panel – Ubani
The Chairman of Section, Public Interest And Development Law (SPIDEL) of the Nigerian Bar Association, Monday Ubani has said that the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami cannot set up an independent panel to probe the siege of Justice Mary Odili’s residence.
Some security operatives including police officers had on October 29 stormed the home of Odili, the wife of a former Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, in the Maitama area of Abuja.
Following public criticism and denials by Malami and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Nigeria Police arrested 14 suspects in connection with the incident.
However, one of the suspects, Lawrence Ajodo, had claimed to have worked previously with the Attorney General of the Federation, although Malami has repeatedly denied knowing him.
But Ubani who spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday said the Attorney General of the Federation has been implicated by one of the suspects arrested in connection with the raid.
He reiterated the call made by NBA President, Olumide Akpata for President Muhammadu Buhari to set up an independent panel of inquiry to uncover the circumstances behind the incident.
“The minimum the NBA will really be happy about is the President setting up an independent panel of inquiry,” he said.
“It is wrong for probably the AGF to investigate himself because of the fact that he has been implicated sort of, not that he has been found liable but somebody mentioned his name.
“Then the police went there, the soldiers were also involved. Can the police really investigate them and come out with a clean story?”
‘An impostor’
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali, has vowed to diligently prosecute the paraded suspects.
In a statement signed by spokesperson Mba, the police said it had recovered three vehicles and a laptop computer, printer and flash drive used for the production of fake identity cards from the suspects.
“The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a total of fourteen (14) suspects including the principal suspect – a fake Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) – for complicity in the failed criminal trespass on the Abuja residence of Justice Mary Odili on Friday, 29th October 2021,” the statement said.
“The suspects were arrested following investigations conducted by detectives from the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) which clearly revealed the criminal involvement and individual roles the suspects played in the invasion of the residence of the revered Supreme Court Judge. Recall that the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc (+), NPM, fdc, on 1st November 2021, affirmed that the Force did not authorize security operatives to carry out any assignment in or around the residence of Justice Mary Odili and directed the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) to carry out a discrete investigation with the aim of bringing the perpetrators to book.
“The suspects; Ajodo Lawrence ‘m’ (principal suspect), Michael Diete-Spiff ‘m’, Bar. Alex Onyekuru ‘m’, Bayero Lawal ‘m’, Bar. Igwe Ernest ‘m’, Aliyu Umar Ibrahim ‘m’, Maimuna Maishanu ‘f’, Ayodele Akindipe ‘m’, Yusuf Adamu ‘m’, Bashir Musa ‘m’, ASP Mohammed Yahaya ‘m’, Stanley Nkwazema ‘m’, Shehu Jibo ‘m’ and Abdullahi Adamu ‘m’, L/CPL Mike (other name unknown) ‘m’, are members of a well-organized criminal gang with a web-like involvement of individuals drawing from their different competences, professional background and social contacts in perfecting the criminal plot. Membership of the syndicate include suspects with background in public service, business, law, journalism, banking, amongst others.
“The facts of the case from Police Investigations have it that one Aliyu Umar Ibrahim, an acclaimed whistleblower, following a baseless and unverified information he got from one Yusuf Adamu – parading himself as the godson of Chief Peter Odili – that there is a huge sum of money in foreign currencies starched in the residence of Her Lordship, Justice Mary Odili located at No. 7, Imo River Street, Maitama, initiated processes aimed at illegally recovering the said money. Consequently, the syndicate contacted one Bashir Musa, a clerical staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), who in turn sought the assistance of two (2) others – Shehu Jibo and Abdullahi Adamu.
