ODILI: Reps decry assault on judiciary

The House of Representatives on Wednesday warned against the unwarranted assaults of judicial officers.

The lower legislative chamber was reacting to the October 29 raid on the Abuja residence of the Supreme Court Justice, Mary Odili.

Security agents had on that day stormed the judge’s residence with a search warrant over alleged illegal activities in the building.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, Onofiok Luke, gave the warning when officials of the National Judicial Council (NJC) appeared at the National Assembly for the council’s 2022 budget defence.

He said: “Of great importance to this committee is the security of judicial officers. We have stated as a committee that we should create an enabling environment, not only a working environment, not just good living conditions, but a secured environment for our judicial officials to operate without hindrance, without any fear of intimidation or harassment.

READ ALSO: Malami cannot set up probe panel on invasion of Justice Odili’s home —Ubani

“We want to condemn the attack on Justice Odili’s residence, a justice of the Supreme Court and we ask that this should not repeat itself. It happened in 2017, this should not be allowed to repeat itself because we are weakening the morale and strength of our judicial officers.”

Consequently, the committee called for more protection for judicial officers in the country.

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