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, PLANTING OF HUGE SUMS OF MONEY IN
DIFFERENT CURRENCIES, PURPORTED RECOVERY OF THE MONEY, CARTING AWAY OF MY
DOCUMENTS AND OTHER VALUABLE ITEMS AND MY SUBSEQUENT ABDUCTION BY MASKED
OPERATIVES OF THE DSS BETWEEN FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7TH AND SATURDAY, OCTOBER
8TH, 2016
1. Some
days before Friday, 7th October, 2016 I started feeling symptoms of
malaria attack. Any malaria drug keeps me drowsy and sleeping for
days and since I had to go to work I decided to hang on
until Friday to take the drug after work.
2. I
returned from work late Friday afternoon, had a meal and took the
medication I got from Dr. Ukah of the Supreme Court Medical
Centre. By 7.30 pm I was already in bed having switched
off my hand sets. After a little while my house maid knocked on the
door to my bedroom. I reluctantly dragged myself to the
door. She told me that a group of people wanted to see
me. I told her to inform whoever wanted to see me that night that I
do not see visitors in the night, that they could come to see me in day
time. I went back to sleep. I could not tell how long
later that I heard knocks on the door. I ignored the knocks but when
my house girl continued knocking on the door I managed to get up and opened the
door. She told me that some people said that the President sent them
to me. I got out of the room to find that a large number of people
some of whom wore face masks and hand gloves were everywhere in the ground
floor. I told my house maid to ask the people to meet me in my study
next door to the bedroom.
3. They
rushed into my study, one of them said his name was John. He flashed
a card to me and showed me what he said was a search warrant. My
vision was blurred as a result of the malaria and the drug I
took. They had drawn guns. I was terrified and I thought
they had a more sinister mission than a mere search. I made to know
whether the Chief Justice of Nigeria knew of their mission. One of
them contemptuously spat “Who is Chief Judge of Nigeria”. I brought
out my handset to call the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, they would not
let me do so. Rather they collected my three phones and another
phone that I had discarded. I lay down on the seat in the parlour
downstairs while they turned everything upside down on the ground floor.
When they
finished downstairs they demanded that I should show them the rooms on the next
floor. Again I had to lie down on the seat in the room while they
turned everything upside down. I had to go to another seat when they
want to upturn the seat I occupied. One of them saw the sum of forty
thousand naira (N40,000.00) and one thousand naira notes in one of
the drawers. He was excited and called their lead who saw the money and
said “This is not the kind of money we came to pick”. They left the N40,000.000.
4. In
the next bedroom I lay on the bed out of sight of the wardrobe from which they
brought some boxes and brief cases and travelling bags. All the bags
and briefcases and travelling bags except one contained only magazines, papers and
some old clothing. Some were empty. Only one small bag
was locked with a padlock and this was the only bag that contained
money. They directed me to come over and remove the padlock. I
retrieved the key from the side pocket of the bag and removed the padlock and
returned to my bed. They put the bags together by the toilet
door. They called me again and asked me whether the bags were my property
and I answered they were my property. None of the bags were neither
opened in my presence nor in the presence of my housemaid who was the only
person in the house with me at all material times.
5. Some
of them stayed in the room while I took them to my study. At this time I
became very dizzy and I had to return to lie down on a seat in the parlour and
a man with a gun and a face mask stood over me while I dozed. He
followed each time I went to the toilet. Another one followed my
housemaid each time I asked her for water. There was no way out of
the house. They were at all doors. Those searching and
those outside the house went into the house through the main door, kitchen door
and back doors. They went in and out of every room including the room in
which the bags were kept. I dozed intermittently but my house girl
was kept sitting on the steps and was able to observe them coming through the
kitchen door but she could not see those who came from back doors, took the
second steps and went in and out of the rooms on the upper floor.
6. After
many hours they came down to the sitting room downstairs and told me they were
going to bring down the bags.
I was
speechless when I saw them bringing out huge bundles of different currencies
from the bags that had contained only magazine papers and old clothes and some
were empty. Some were contained in multi-coloured plastic bags which
they tore and discarded. They put the money in different bags and
brief cases and then proceeded to count a large amount of N5, N10, N20 and N50
notes which was the change I returned each time I went to shop over the
years. They kept waking me up to ask how I came about the small
denomination of naira notes. No one asked me any question about
the huge sums of money they put in the bags.
7. One
of them came to where I was lying down and ordered me to sit up. One
of the gun men who stood a few feet from me came and stood next to me with his
gun drawn. I was ordered to sign a paper which they said contained a
list of what they were taking away. Confronted with the life-threatening
situation I made an instant mental decision that it was better for me to comply
with their orders and stay alive to tell my story rather than get shot and
killed on the pretext that I attacked them or that I tried to
escape. I signed the paper and wrote my name as ordered. No
one told me what offence I was alleged to have committed. No one
told me of any petition or allegation against me.
8. The
only bag that contained money was the small bag i locked with a padlock which I
unlocked when ordered to do so. The bag contained the sum of
$25,000, £10 = = and a brown envelope containing the sum of N710,000 which was
a monthly allowance paid to me for September 2016. In the brief
case, which I carry to my office daily, I had the sum of N300,000 and some
loose change. The above are the only sums of money taken from me
along with my phones, papers and other household items. I do not know how
they came about the huge sums of money I saw for the first time in my parlour
on the early hours of Saturday, 8th October, 2016. The various
sums of money alleged to have been recovered from me were said to be in the
social media in the early hours of Saturday, 8th October, 2016 when the
invaders were yet to complete their search.
9. They
took me away in their vehicle but before they drove away they ordered my
housemaid to get in and lock the house and not to ever come out
or let
anyone into the house. It was when I saw DSS in the premises into
which they drove me that I realized my invaders were agents of a Federal
Government Department. Prior to getting into the premises I thought that
the invaders were even armed robbers or kidnappers, more so when I was not
questioned by anyone about anything.
10. Then
I became much more disturbed not only for myself but for the future of this
great Nation, Nigeria. I could not convince myself that any agency
of the Federal Government, in a democratic setting, could for any undisclosed
reason violate the rights of a Nigerian citizen, a Judicial Officer
and Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, for that matter with
such impunity. I thought that the democratic government had been
overthrown and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as
amended) abolished or suspended.
11. Then
the next phase of the ordeal started. I was taken to a room where I
met my learned brother, Hon. Justice John Inyang Okoro, JSC. He
looked spent and so were other Judicial Officers both serving, sacked and
retired. No one told me anything or asked me any question till late
in the night when they drove from over one hour to a place they called
villa. They took Justice Okoro and myself into a room that contained
only a bed with a discarded, stained old mattress and both of us had to share
it for the night. There was no towel, no soap and worst of all there
was no toilet paper. We slept in our clothes, went under the tap and
used our handkerchiefs in place of towels.
12. The
next day, Sunday, we were driven back to the office. I was
taken to a room where two operatives fired questions at me in quick
succession. I answered as much as I could in the
circumstances. I pleaded with them to tell me why I was abducted and
detained and subjected to endless questioning.I also asked why everyone kept
mute over the huge sums of money allegedly recovered in my house but none of
the two men would answer my question. We were allowed to go
homeSunday night only as a result of the intervention of the Hon. Chief
Justice of Nigeria, the Hon. Justice Mahmud Mohammed, GCON. We were
ordered to return on Monday and since then we have been reporting
daily to them.
13. On
Friday last week, I was ordered to report by 10 am. Justice
Okoro and I were required to appear before the Judiciary Committee of the
Senate. We told our stories to the Senators and rushed from them to
meet our interrogators. On one particular occasion, I was taken to,
and locked up, in their different rooms. Each room had only a table
and a set of chairs and I was kept for about one and half hours in each
room. No one was with me in any of the rooms.
14. My
Noble Lord, I am a victim of my own resolve never to violate my sacred oath of
office as a Judicial Officer. Politicians and their collaborators
have been hunting me on that account. It started in Ebonyi State
where I was falsely accused before a panel set up by NJC in August
2000. It was replicated in 2009 when I was pulled from my Division,
Calabar, to preside over a motion filed by Senator Andy Uba seeking to be a
Governor without going through the process of election. In each case
I was exonerated.
15. My
present plight started sometime between 2013 and 2014. I represented the
then Chief Justice of Nigeria in an event organised in the International
Conference Centre.Hon. Rotimi Amaechi came in
late and sat next to me at the high table. He introduced himself to me and
we exchanged contacts. A few weeks after, Fayose’s case was
determined in the Court of Appeal. Amaechi called me by 6.45
am. He said he had come to see me but was told I had left for my
office. When he said he would return in the evening, I demanded to know
what he wanted but he would not tell me. He did not come that evening but
came the following morning when I was already prepared to go to work. He
begged me to ensure that Fayose’s election was set aside and another election
ordered for his friend Fayemi to contest. I told him I would not
help him and that even if I am on the panel I have only my one vote.
16. After
the Rivers State Governorship election was determined by the Court of Appeal,
he ,Amaechi,called to tell me his ears were full and he would like to tell me
what he heard. I told him I was out of Abuja at the
time. On my return he came in the evening and even before he
sat down he barked “You have seen Wike”. I asked
him whether that was a question or a statement. Then he made a call and
asked me to speak with someone. The man he called said he was a DSS
man. We exchanged greetings and I handed the phone to him. Next,
he said “Oga is not happy”. I asked him who is the unhappy “Oga” and
he answered “Buhari”. I retorted “go and
talk to his wife”. He got very angry, and left, remarking “we shall
see” several times.
17. Your Lordship may recall one morning when I pleaded
not be on the Panel for Rivers Appeal. Your Lordship said I was
already on the Panel and asked me to explain why I made the request to be
excluded. When I explained what transpired the previous night, Your
Lordship told me Amaechi had also attempted to influence other Justices. My
Lord, on the day we heard the appeal with your Lordship presiding, we were
allowed lunch break at 4.20 pm. The moment I got into my Chambers he, Amaechi, called. When
he told who was calling, I said to him, “Your
Excellency, you want to issue more threats”? He replied “Have you
been threatened before?” I
replied “I know a threat when I hear one even if veiled. In any case
I will not talk to you” and I switched off my phone.
18. The
people who failed in their attempt to destroy me in Ebonyi in 2000 and in Enugu
in Andy Uba’s case in the Court of Appeal, Enugu in 2009 are now supplying
Amaechi with information to fight me for my negative response to his demands,
especially my answer to his statement that “Oga was not happy”.This infuriated
him and as he stormed out he said he would deal with the situation.
19. The
incident I will narrate below may or may not bear on this case. When the Governorship Election appeal from my State,
Ebonyi, came to the Court of Appeal, one Mr. Igwenyi, a Senior staff of Federal
Judicial Service Commission came to my Chambers and told me that the former
Governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu had pleaded with him to convince me
to see him, Dr. Onu. I asked him to call Dr. Onu; he did and I
wanted to know why he wanted to see me. He said it was
confidential. I asked when he wanted to see me and he said he would
like me to come in the evening. I told Igwenyi that he would have to
take me to Dr. Onu in his car and bring me back. I had wanted him to listen to what Dr. Onu had to
say but when we arrived, Dr Onu put him in a different room. He
asked me whether I know the Hon. President of the Court of Appeal and I told
him that His Lordship was my Presiding Justice in the Court of Appeal, Benin
Division. He asked of my relationship
with the PJA and I said it was cordial. He nodded his head several
times in apparent satisfaction.
20. He
told me that the candidate for the Labour Party was ready to switch over to APC
if he could help him win the appeal in the Court of Appeal and that in
appreciation of the undertaking to come over to his party, he had obtained the
services of three Justices of the Court of Appeal to ensure victory for Labour
Party. He said he needed one to convince the PJA to include his three
Justices of the Court of Appeal in the five-man panel to hear the
appeal. I told him I would not help him and that I could not in good
conscience convey such request even to a Customary Court Judge. He was disappointed and asked me whether I knew the
husband of the PJA. I told him I did not know the man. I
bid him good night and left. Igwenyi joined me in the passage and when he
drove me back to my home I told him what Dr. Onu wanted. Igwenyi
apologised to me and assured me that he would not have bothered me if he had
known what Dr. Onu wanted me to do.
21. In
addition to the above I have been subjected to visits to the DSS
offices. I was made to stay idle for the whole day, without food or
even water. On 17thOctober, 2016 I went to the DSS office to
collect my passports as directed. I was to be there by 10
am but I arrived by 9.30 am and I was assured that I would
return to my office in no time. I was kept there till3.45
pm before I was questioned on the passports till 5.00
pm. After that, one of them took the passports to his
boss. He returned an hour later, handed me my passports and told me
he had finished with me but that only the man in whose office I was could let
me go. I was only allowed to go about 10 pm with a warning
to report at10 am on 18th October 2016. From 9.30 am
to 10 pm I was not given water or food.
22. I
am on my way to the DSS office and who knows if and when I will be allowed to
leave the place.
23. My
Lord, the facts stated here in can be verified.
24. Attached
is an Affidavit deposed by me in the Supreme Court Registry to this effect.
Yours
faithfully
NWALI
SYLVESTER UNGWUTA
JUSTICE,
SUPREME COURT
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