The Nigerian Senate has suddenly woken up to its responsibilities by deciding to probe the notorious raid on the houses of some judges and their arrests by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The Chairman of Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator David Umaru, made this known during the plenary today.
The belated decision comes six days after the House of Representatives decided to investigate the matter. The Lower House had on Thursday last week summoned the Director General of the DSS to explain why the secret service desecrated the of the judges and arrested them.
The Senate only condemned the action verbally but on Wednesday it invited the humiliated judges for further investigation into what many see as executive lawlessness.
The invited judges are Justice John Okoro and Justice Sylvester Nguta of the Supreme Court; Justice Namdi Dimgba and Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja; Kabiru Auta, FHC, Kano; Muazu Pindiga, FHC, Gombe; and a former Chief Judge of Enugu State, Innocent Umezulike.
They are to appear before the Senate Committee on Judiciary,
Human Rights and Legal Matters. Umaru said the panel would work on the report by the National Judicial Council on the issue.
Operatives of the DSS had illegally barged into the homes of the judges between October 7 and October 8, 2016, and arrested them. The DSS later alleged that huge some of money were found in their houses. The judges have so far denied the allegation of corruption.
cpcnews.org 