Mr. Nimi Walson-Jack, a former National General- Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), described the crackdown on the judiciary as an infringement on extant laws of the land.
Walson-Jack said that the law was explicit as to how the judiciary should operate, noting that not even under the military dictatorships in Nigeria had judicial officers been arrested.
“The Department of State Security (DSS) cannot under any existing laws in the country arrest members of the judiciary.
“The judiciary is self-regulating, and the executive understands the limits of its powers, and should endeavour not to exceed such limits,” he said.
Walson-Jack said that the police was a department recognised under the executive with the responsibility of investigation and prosecution.
“Within the executive, the police is what is recognised; the DSS was set up with specific goals under the law.
“So, if a judicial officer commits an offence, it is the function of the police to step in and investigate and that is after exhausting all internal mechanisms within the judiciary,’’ he said.
He said that there was a total misuse of language and constitution in the issues surrounding the arrests as it was clearly contrary to the definition of a “sting operation”.
“They call it a sting operation, but that is not the definition of a sting operation; what the DSS has done, be it crackdown or whatever, it is completely illegal.
“My advice is that everybody has to wake up; laws are made to guide the citizenry; government needs to support the liberty and freedom of the people,’’ he said.
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