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Wike charges IGP to unravel motive behind invasion on Justice Odili’s residence

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Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, has charged the Inspec­tor-General of Police (IGP) Us­man Alkali Baba, to ensure thorough investigation into the reason behind the raid on Justice Mary Odili’s residence.

Wike made this call on Tuesday when he led a delegation of Rivers’ elders and elected representatives to the IGP at the Force Headquar­ters, Abuja.

The Governor bemoaned that the magistrate who issued the search warrant has not been interrogated to ac­count for his action, weeks after the invasion.

“Nobody has said anything about the magistrate, and we believe that the magistrate is not unknown.”

Nonetheless, Wike lauded the efforts of the IGP and his team for the arrest of some of the suspects involved in the con­demnable invasion.

“We believe, we should get to the root of this matter and anybody who is directly or indirectly involved should face the wrath of the law. It does not matter the person’s position.

“That is the only way somebody can stop saying if a Justice of Supreme Court, second in command, could face this, what about the ordi­nary people, what will happen? I am quite confident that you will unravel whatever that has happened,” Wike said.

He also expressed concerns about the entire situation saying, “if all culprits are not arrested and prosecuted, law abiding citi­zens will be reluctant to grant access to their residence to any­one that brandishes a search warrant at them.”

According to him, the only way public confidence in security agencies can be re­stored, is when all those who engaged in the despicable act are exposed and punished in accordance with extant laws of the land.

The governor said the gov­ernment and people of Rivers State are concerned that the magistrate who issued the search warrant has not been quizzed to determine the mo­tive for his action.

Read also: Anyone that plots downfall of my govt cannot survive -Wike

In his remarks, the Inspec­tor General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, said the suspects involved in the invasion of Justice Mary Odili’s residence are still in police custody amid ongoing investigation.

On the issue of the magis­trate, who issued the search warrant, the IGP explained that the police had written to the Chief Registrar of the Fed­eral Capital Territory (FCT) requesting for his release, but instead his statement was sub­mitted to the police.

“We wrote a letter to the Chief Registrar of FCT to release the magistrate, and instead of releasing him, they replied our letter, plus his state­ment to us. So, we don’t want to pick any quarrel. What we needed was the statement. We are working with the state­ment. He has not denied the fact that he has issued a search warrant and that is what we wanted to confirm.”

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