18th October, 2016<\/p>\n
My Lord, The Hon. the Chief Justice of Nigeria
\n& Chairman,
\nNational Judicial Council
\nSupreme Court Complex
\nABUJA<\/p>\n
My Lord<\/p>\n
INVASION OF MY HOUSE IN THE NIGHT, PLANTING OF HUGE SUMS OF MONEY IN
\nDIFFERENT CURRENCIES, PURPORTED RECOVERY OF THE MONEY, CARTING AWAY OF MY
\nDOCUMENTS AND OTHER VALUABLE ITEMS AND MY SUBSEQUENT ABDUCTION BY MASKED
\nOPERATIVES OF THE DSS BETWEEN FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7TH AND SATURDAY, OCTOBER
\n8TH, 2016<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some days before Friday, 7th October, 2016 I started feeling 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I returned from work late Friday<\/span><\/span> afternoon, had a meal and took 3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They rushed into my study, one of them said his name was John. 4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the next bedroom I lay on the bed out of sight of the 5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some of them stayed in the room while I took them to my study. 6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After many hours they came down to the sitting room downstairs I was speechless when I saw them bringing out huge bundles of different 7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 One of them came to where I was lying down and ordered me to 8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The only bag that contained money was the small bag i locked 9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They took me away in their vehicle but before they drove away or let anyone into the house.\u00a0 It was when I saw DSS in the premises into 10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then I became much more disturbed not only for myself but for the 11.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then the next phase of the ordeal started.\u00a0 I was taken to a room 12.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The next day, Sunday<\/span><\/span>, we were driven back to the office.\u00a0 I was 13.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On Friday last week, I was ordered to report by 10 am<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0 Justice 14.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My Noble Lord, I am a victim of my own resolve never to violate 15.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My present plight started sometime between 2013 and 2014.\u00a0 I 16.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After the Rivers State Governorship election was determined by 17.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Your Lordship may recall one morning when I pleaded not be on the 18.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The people who failed in their attempt to destroy me in Ebonyi in 19.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The incident I will narrate below may or may not bear on this 20.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He told me that the candidate for the Labour Party was ready to 21.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In addition to the above I have been subjected to visits to the 22.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I am on my way to the DSS office and who knows if and when I will 23.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My Lord, the facts stated here in can be verified.<\/p>\n 24.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Attached is an Affidavit deposed by me in the Supreme Court Yours faithfully<\/p>\n NWALI SYLVESTER UNGWUTA 18th October, 2016 My Lord, The Hon. the Chief Justice of Nigeria & Chairman, National Judicial Council Supreme Court Complex ABUJA My Lord INVASION OF MY HOUSE IN THE NIGHT,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53972,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nsymptoms of malaria attack.\u00a0 Any malaria drug keeps me drowsy and sleeping
\nfor days and since I had to go to work I decided to hang on until Friday<\/span><\/span>
\nto take the drug after work.<\/p>\n
\nthe medication I got from Dr. Ukah of the Supreme Court Medical Centre.
\nBy 7.30 pm<\/span><\/span> I was already in bed having switched off my hand sets.\u00a0 After a
\nlittle while my house maid knocked on the door to my bedroom.\u00a0 I
\nreluctantly dragged myself to the door.\u00a0 She told me that a group of
\npeople wanted to see me.\u00a0 I told her to inform whoever wanted to see me
\nthat night that I do not see visitors in the night, that they could come
\nto see me in day time.\u00a0 I went back to sleep.\u00a0 I could not tell how long
\nlater that I heard knocks on the door.\u00a0 I ignored the knocks but when my
\nhouse girl continued knocking on the door I managed to get up and opened
\nthe door.\u00a0 She told me that some people said that the President sent them
\nto me.\u00a0 I got out of the room to find that a large number of people some
\nof whom wore face masks and hand gloves were everywhere in the ground
\nfloor.\u00a0 I told my house maid to ask the people to meet me in my study next
\ndoor to the bedroom.<\/p>\n
\nHe flashed a card to me and showed me what he said was a search warrant.
\nMy vision was blurred as a result of the malaria and the drug I took.
\nThey had drawn guns.\u00a0 I was terrified and I thought they had a more
\nsinister mission than a mere search.\u00a0 I made to know whether the Chief
\nJustice of Nigeria knew of their mission.\u00a0 One of them contemptuously spat
\n\u201cWho is Chief Judge of Nigeria\u201d.\u00a0 I brought out my handset to call the
\nChief Registrar of the Supreme Court, they would not let me do so.\u00a0 Rather
\nthey collected my three phones and another phone that I had discarded.\u00a0 I
\nlay down on the seat in the parlour downstairs while they turned
\neverything upside down on the ground floor.
\nWhen they finished downstairs they demanded that I should show them the
\nrooms on the next floor.\u00a0 Again I had to lie down on the seat in the room
\nwhile they turned everything upside down.\u00a0 I had to go to another seat
\nwhen they want to upturn the seat I occupied.\u00a0 One of them saw the sum of
\nforty thousand naira (N40,000.00)\u00a0 and one thousand naira notes in one of
\nthe drawers.\u00a0 He was excited and called their lead who saw the money and
\nsaid \u201cThis is not the kind of money we came to pick\u201d.\u00a0 They left the
\nN40,000.000.<\/p>\n
\nwardrobe from which they brought some boxes and brief cases and travelling
\nbags.\u00a0 All the bags and briefcases and travelling bags except one
\ncontained only magazines, papers and some old clothing.\u00a0 Some were empty.
\nOnly one small bag was locked with a padlock and this was the only bag
\nthat contained money.\u00a0 They directed me to come over and remove the
\npadlock.\u00a0 I retrieved the key from the side pocket of the bag and removed
\nthe padlock and returned to my bed.\u00a0 They put the bags together by the
\ntoilet door.\u00a0 They called me again and asked me whether the bags were my
\nproperty and I answered they were my property.\u00a0 None of the bags were
\nneither opened in my presence nor in the presence of my housemaid who was
\nthe only person in the house with me at all material times.<\/p>\n
\nAt this time I became very dizzy and I had to return to lie down on a seat
\nin the parlour and a man with a gun and a face mask stood over me while I
\ndozed.\u00a0 He followed each time I went to the toilet.\u00a0 Another one followed
\nmy housemaid each time I asked her for water.\u00a0 There was no way out of the
\nhouse.\u00a0 They were at all doors.\u00a0 Those searching and those outside the
\nhouse went into the house through the main door, kitchen door and back
\ndoors.\u00a0 They went in and out of every room including the room in which the
\nbags were kept.\u00a0 I dozed intermittently but my house girl was kept sitting
\non the steps and was able to observe them coming through the kitchen door
\nbut she could not see those who came from back doors, took the second
\nsteps and went in and out of the rooms on the upper floor.<\/p>\n
\nand told me they were going to bring down the bags.<\/p>\n
\ncurrencies from the bags that had contained only magazine papers and old
\nclothes and some were empty.\u00a0 Some were contained in multi-coloured
\nplastic bags which they tore and discarded.\u00a0 They put the money in
\ndifferent bags and brief cases and then proceeded to count a large amount
\nof N5, N10, N20 and N50 notes which was the change I returned each time I
\nwent to shop over the years.\u00a0 They kept waking me up to ask how I came
\nabout the small denomination of naira notes.\u00a0 No one asked me any question
\nabout the huge sums of money they put in the bags.<\/p>\n
\nsit up.\u00a0 One of the gun men who stood a few feet from me came and stood
\nnext to me with his gun drawn.\u00a0 I was ordered to sign a paper which they
\nsaid contained a list of what they were taking away.\u00a0 Confronted with the
\nlife-threatening situation I made an instant mental decision that it was
\nbetter for me to comply with their orders and stay alive to tell my story
\nrather than get shot and killed on the pretext that I attacked them or
\nthat I tried to escape.\u00a0 I signed the paper and wrote my name as ordered.
\nNo one told me what offence I was alleged to have committed.\u00a0 No one told
\nme of any petition or allegation against me.<\/p>\n
\nwith a padlock which I unlocked when ordered to do so.\u00a0 The bag contained
\nthe sum of $25,000, \u00a310 = = and a brown envelope containing the sum of
\nN710,000 which was a monthly allowance paid to me for September 2016.\u00a0 In
\nthe brief case, which I carry to my office daily, I had the sum of
\nN300,000 and some loose change.\u00a0 The above are the only sums of money
\ntaken from me along with my phones, papers and other household items.\u00a0 I
\ndo not know how they came about the huge sums of money I saw for the first
\ntime in my parlour on the early hours of Saturday, 8th October, 2016.\u00a0 The
\nvarious sums of money alleged to have been recovered from me were said to
\nbe in the social media in the early hours of Saturday, 8th October, 2016
\nwhen the invaders were yet to complete their search.<\/p>\n
\nthey ordered my housemaid to get in and lock the house and not to ever
\ncome out<\/p>\n
\nwhich they drove me that I realized my invaders were agents of a Federal
\nGovernment Department.\u00a0 Prior to getting into the premises I thought that
\nthe invaders were even armed robbers or kidnappers, more so when I was not
\nquestioned by anyone about anything.<\/p>\n
\nfuture of this great Nation, Nigeria.\u00a0 I could not convince myself that
\nany agency of the Federal Government, in a democratic setting, could for
\nany undisclosed reason violate the rights of a Nigerian citizen, a
\nJudicial Officer and\u00a0 Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, for that
\nmatter with such impunity.\u00a0 I thought that the democratic government had
\nbeen overthrown and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
\n1999 (as amended) abolished or suspended.<\/p>\n
\nwhere I met my learned brother, Hon. Justice John Inyang Okoro, JSC.\u00a0 He
\nlooked spent and so were other Judicial Officers both serving, sacked and
\nretired.\u00a0 No one told me anything or asked me any question till late in
\nthe night when they drove from over one hour to a place they called
\nvilla.\u00a0 They took Justice Okoro and myself into a room that contained only
\na bed with a discarded, stained old mattress and both of us had to share
\nit for the night.\u00a0 There was no towel, no soap and worst of all there was
\nno toilet paper.\u00a0 We slept in our clothes, went under the tap and used our
\nhandkerchiefs in place of towels.<\/p>\n
\ntaken to a room where two operatives fired questions at me in quick
\nsuccession.\u00a0 I answered as much as I could in the circumstances.\u00a0 I
\npleaded with them to tell me why I was abducted and detained and subjected
\nto endless questioning.\u00a0 I also asked why everyone kept mute over the huge
\nsums of money allegedly recovered in my house but none of the two men
\nwould answer my question.\u00a0 We were allowed to go home Sunday<\/span><\/span> night only as
\na result of the intervention of the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, the
\nHon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed, GCON.\u00a0 We were ordered to return on Monday<\/span><\/span>
\nand since then we have been reporting daily to them.<\/p>\n
\nOkoro and I were required to appear before the Judiciary Committee of the
\nSenate.\u00a0 We told our stories to the Senators and rushed from them to meet
\nour interrogators.\u00a0 On one particular occasion, I was taken to, and locked
\nup, in their different rooms.\u00a0 Each room had only a table and a set of
\nchairs and I was kept for about one and half hours in each room.\u00a0 No one
\nwas with me in any of the rooms.<\/p>\n
\nmy sacred oath of office as a Judicial Officer.\u00a0 Politicians and their
\ncollaborators have been hunting me on that account.\u00a0 It started in Ebonyi
\nState where I was falsely accused before a panel set up by NJC in August
\n2000.\u00a0 It was replicated in 2009 when I was pulled from my Division,
\nCalabar, to preside over a motion filed by Senator Andy Uba seeking to be
\na Governor without going through the process of election.\u00a0 In each case I
\nwas exonerated.<\/p>\n
\nrepresented the then Chief Justice of Nigeria in an event organised in the
\nInternational Conference Centre.\u00a0 Hon. Rotimi Amaechi came in late and sat
\nnext to me at the high table.\u00a0 He introduced himself to me and we
\nexchanged contacts.\u00a0 A few weeks after, Fayose\u2019s case was determined in
\nthe Court of Appeal.\u00a0 Amaechi called me by 6.45 am<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0 He said he had come
\nto see me but was told I had left for my office.\u00a0 When he said he would
\nreturn in the evening, I demanded to know what he wanted but he would not
\ntell me.\u00a0 He did not come that evening but came the following morning when
\nI was already prepared to go to work.\u00a0 He begged me to ensure that
\nFayose\u2019s election was set aside and another election ordered for his
\nfriend Fayemi to contest.\u00a0 I told him I would not help him and that even
\nif I am on the panel I have only my one vote.<\/p>\n
\nthe Court of Appeal, he called to tell me his ears were full and he would
\nlike to tell me what he heard.\u00a0 I told him I was out of Abuja at the
\ntime.\u00a0 On my return he came in the evening and even before he sat down he
\nbarked \u201cYou have seen Wike\u201d.\u00a0 I asked him whether that was a question or a
\nstatement.\u00a0 Then he made a call and asked me to speak with someone.\u00a0 The
\nman he called said he was a DSS man.\u00a0 We exchanged greetings and I handed
\nthe phone to him.\u00a0 Next, he said \u201cOga is not happy\u201d.\u00a0 I asked him who is
\nthe unhappy \u201cOga\u201d and he answered \u201cBuhari\u201d.\u00a0 I retorted \u201cgo and talk to
\nhis wife\u201d.\u00a0 He got very angry, and left, remarking \u201cwe shall see\u201d several
\ntimes.<\/p>\n
\nPanel for Rivers Appeal.\u00a0 Your Lordship said I was already on the Panel
\nand asked me to explain why I made the request to be excluded.\u00a0 When I
\nexplained what transpired the previous night, Your Lordship told me
\nAmaechi had also attempted to influence other Justices.\u00a0 My Lord, on the
\nday we heard the appeal with your Lordship presiding, we were allowed
\nlunch break at 4.20 pm<\/span><\/span>.\u00a0 The moment I got into my Chambers he, Amaechi,
\ncalled.\u00a0 When he told who was calling, I said to him, \u201cYour Excellency,
\nyou want to issue more threats\u201d?\u00a0 He replied \u201cHave you been threatened
\nbefore?\u201d\u00a0 I replied \u201cI know a threat when I hear one even if veiled.\u00a0 In
\nany case I will not talk to you\u201d and I switched off my phone.<\/p>\n
\n2000 and in Enugu in Andy Uba\u2019s case in the Court of Appeal, Enugu in 2009
\nare now supplying Amaechi with information to fight me for my negative
\nresponse to his demands, especially my answer to his statement that \u201cOga
\nwas not happy\u201d.\u00a0 This infuriated him and as he stormed out he said he
\nwould deal with the situation.<\/p>\n
\ncase.\u00a0 When the Governorship Election appeal from my State, Ebonyi, came
\nto the Court of Appeal, one Mr. Igwenyi, a Senior staff of Federal
\nJudicial Service Commission came to my Chambers and told me that the
\nformer Governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu had pleaded with him to
\nconvince me to see him, Dr. Onu.\u00a0 I asked him to call Dr. Onu; he did and
\nI wanted to know why he wanted to see me.\u00a0 He said it was confidential.\u00a0 I
\nasked when he wanted to see me and he said he would like me to come in the
\nevening.\u00a0 I told Igwenyi that he would have to take me to Dr. Onu in his
\ncar and bring me back.\u00a0 I had wanted him to listen to what Dr. Onu had to
\nsay but when we arrived, Dr Onu put him in a different room.\u00a0 He asked me
\nwhether I know the Hon. President of the Court of Appeal and I told him
\nthat His Lordship was my Presiding Justice in the Court of Appeal, Benin
\nDivision.\u00a0 He asked of my relationship with the PJA and I said it was
\ncordial.\u00a0 He nodded his head several times in apparent satisfaction.<\/p>\n
\nswitch over to APC if he could help him win the appeal in the Court of
\nAppeal and that in appreciation of the undertaking to come over to his
\nparty, he had obtained the services of three Justices of the Court of
\nAppeal to ensure victory for Labour Party.\u00a0 He said he needed one to
\nconvince the PJA to include his three Justices of the Court of Appeal in
\nthe five-man panel to hear the appeal.\u00a0 I told him I would not help him
\nand that I could not in good conscience convey such request even to a
\nCustomary Court Judge.\u00a0 He was disappointed and asked me whether I knew
\nthe husband of the PJA.\u00a0 I told him I did not know the man.\u00a0 I bid him
\ngood night and left.\u00a0 Igwenyi joined me in the passage and when he drove
\nme back to my home I told him what Dr. Onu wanted.\u00a0 Igwenyi apologised to
\nme and assured me that he would not have bothered me if he had known what
\nDr. Onu wanted me to do.<\/p>\n
\nDSS offices.\u00a0 I was made to stay idle for the whole day, without food or
\neven water.\u00a0\u00a0 On 17th October, 2016 I went to the DSS office to collect my
\npassports as directed.\u00a0 I was to be there by 10 am<\/span><\/span> but I arrived by 9.30
\nam and I was assured that I would return to my office in no time.\u00a0 I was
\nkept there till 3.45 pm<\/span><\/span> before I was questioned on the passports till 5.00
\npm.\u00a0 After that, one of them took the passports to his boss.\u00a0 He returned
\nan hour later, handed me my passports and told me he had finished with me
\nbut that only the man in whose office I was could let me go.\u00a0 I was only
\nallowed to go about 10 pm<\/span><\/span> with a warning to report at 10 am<\/span><\/span> on 18th
\nOctober 2016.\u00a0 From 9.30 am to 10 pm<\/span><\/span> I was not given water or food.<\/p>\n
\nbe allowed to leave the place.<\/p>\n
\nRegistry to this effect.<\/p>\n
\nJUSTICE, SUPREME COURT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"