By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
A Chief Magistrate Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) sitting at Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, has revoked the search warrant it earlier issued in respect of the residence of Justice Odili due to ‘misrepresentation’ of facts.
The warrant was revoked on Friday after the court held that the police officer who applied for it misrepresented the facts of the matter.
The court held, “Upon misrepresentation to this honourable court that led to the issuance of a search warrant in favour of Joint Panel Recovery, Ministry of Justice against House No 9, Imo State Street, Maitama Abuja, dated 29th October, 2021.
“In view of the above fact, the said search warrant is hereby revoked.” the court ordered
The order was given by Chief Magistrate, Emmanuel A. Iyanna.
It was gathered that one Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Lawrence Ajodo, who claimed to be attached to the Joint Panel Recovery of the Ministry of Justice, had applied to the court for a search warrant on Odili’s residence.
Ajodo had claimed in an affidavit that he was acting based on the suspicion of a complainant, Aliyu Umar Ibrahim, that some “illegal activities” were taking place at the residence of the Supreme Court justice.
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It becomes obvious that CSP Ajodo may be acting on his own and the law should take its course for false information and misrepresentation of facts before the court by him.
Dr Umar Gwandu, Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) said he was not aware of any request by the panel to search Odili’s residence.
Similarly, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had earlier debunked reports that it carried out a search operation at Justice Odili’s residence.
Analysts posits that the raid in Justice Odili’s residence may be connected with the legal battle her husband, former governor of Rivers State (1999 – 2007) Dr. Peter Odili is having with Federal government anti-corruption agencies since he left office.
Recall that in 2007, he obtained a perpetual injunction from a Federal High Court which barred the EFCC from investigating or prosecuting him.
Recently, Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal Hight Court sitting in Abuja had ordered the EFCC to remove the former governor’s name from its watch list and also ordered the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) to release Odili’s international passport to him.
