The Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP) has condemned the raid of
residences of some judges in Nigeria, and the arrest of some of them by
the Department of state Services (DSS).
It described the night raid as a flagrant assault on the rule of law and
interference with the integrity and independence of judges, saying it
amounts to crass intimidation of judges, which is the first line of attack
of dictatorships.
Attack On The Judiciary
LEDAP called on all lawyers to rise in unison to condemn what it called an
attack on the judiciary by the executive and in protest boycott the courts
next week from Monday, October 10 to Friday, October 14.
It said the action would send a strong message to the President Buhari
regime that the legal profession would not stand by and watch the
desecration and denigration of the judiciary.
“It is to the detriment of the Bar and Bench in Nigeria for the security
agencies to make spurious allegations and illegally try judges in the
pages of newspapers.
“It raises wrong and unjustified public perception of the justice system,
and impugns on public confidence in justice and governance,” a statement
by the spokesman for LEDAP, Chino Obiagwu, read.
The group asked the Federal Government to investigate and punish security
officials implicated in the unwholesome act.
“It was wrong to execute improperly issued and illegally executed search
warrants at night on judges, and in any event, without prior recourse to
the head of the judiciary.
“The constitutional principle of separation of powers is sacrosanct and
once eroded, will drive Nigeria to a tyranny,” Chino Obiagwu added.
It is the second group that is threatening to scuttle judicial activities
if the arrested judges were not released.
Earlier, the Nigerian Bar Association has called for the immediate and
unconditional release of the judges.
The group said their arrest was unconstitutional, declaring a state of
emergency in the judiciary.
It says the arrests are disturbing and unconstitutional, describing it a
situation that had never been witnessed.