Federal high court judges on Monday, shunned the courts in solidarity with their colleagues who were arrested gestapo style by the Department of State Security Services, DSS, in the early hours of Saturday, October 8, 2016.
The move, which has been roundly condemned by Nigerians, was sanctioned by President Muhammadu Buhari and carried out in the dead of the night. The violent operations was carried out by armed and hooded operatives of the DSS in Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Gombe State.
Justices of the Federal High Court in Abuja stayed away from the courts. One of their colleagues, Adeniyi Ademola was among the judges targeted in the dragnet which the DSS says is a “fight against corruption”. Six other judges, including two Supreme Court justices were also arrested by the secret police.
The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, had called for the immediate and unconditional release of the judges and declared a state of emergency in the judiciary. Also the National Judicial Commission, NJC, has scheduled an emergency meeting for Tuesday.
Mahmud Mohammed, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, said that the crackdown was “deeply regrettable” and “unfortunate”.
Some of the high profile cases affected by the judges’ protests were the corruption case of a former chief of defense staff, Alex Badeh and that of former Imo State governor, Ikedi Ohakim.
Also, a case filed by Shell Nigeria Exploration Production Company Limited, Shell, against Nigeria’s House of Representatives was stalled.
