Almost five months after the October 29, 2021 botched invasion of the Abuja home of Nigeria’s most senior judicial officer and Justice of the Supreme Court, Mary Odili, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has concluded its independent investigation into the incident which generated wide outrage.
In the 37-page report obtained by Nigerian Tribune, the special investigator noted, “I interacted with almost all the dramatis personae in the invasion saga, except the suspects and the Nigeria Police which did not accord me an audience after repeated efforts.
“Among those I interviewed in the course of the investigation were the Chief Justice of Nigeria; the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami; the victim, Justice Mary Peter-Odili; the Chief Judge of High Court of FCT, and the chief magistrate who issued the search warrant that set the invasion in motion, Emmanuel Iyanna.” The testimony of the Chief Justice is redacted in the report.
Through independent findings, Dr Monday Ubani, the Special Investigator, disclosed that Lawrence Ajodo, who led the team of invaders, “is certainly known within the Federal Ministry of Justice and to some Economic Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives. His illegal activities are also well known within the afore-mentioned circles, but there is no official or documentary evidence linking him with those two agencies.
“One may also conclude that perhaps some persons in the Federal Ministry of Justice may have benefited directly or indirectly from the illegal activities of this syndicate that hangs around the ministry while using its name to create an official toga in their nefarious activities.
“The Federal Ministry of Justice officials cannot completely deny that they do not know some members of the syndicate.”
In its final recommendation, the panel demanded sanctions for government agencies and security agencies that tolerate criminal gangs, touts and law-breakers, in and around their offices.
While connecting the dots on the planning and execution of the invasion, the report disclosed, “when the emergency whistle-blower did not have his way in getting ‘EFCC’ to officially commence the investigation and recovery of the alleged large sums of money in Mr Odili’s home in Abuja, they shifted their attention to the ‘Joint Recovery Panel’ in the Ministry of Justice that allegedly deals with the issue of whistle-blowers and fraudulent money stashed away by criminal minded Nigerians.
“Mr Ajodo, who claimed to be a Chief Superintendent of Police with Force No. 201192, was allegedly in charge of the panel or task force as O/C Investigation.
Mr Aliyu (the whistleblower) saw all the documents with him, including the police logo, EFCC, DSS including Coat of Arms, and got convinced about Mr Ajodo’s ‘genuineness’.
His inquiry revealed that Ajodo was attached to Joint Panel Recovery under the Ministry of Justice. With this information, he was convinced that he was in the right place with the right people to recover the several billions of naira allegedly in the home of Mr Odili.
“At this juncture, Mr Ajodo took over the leadership of the whole operation. Having sworn to his own affidavit and collected the Search Warrant from the Magistrate Court, he fixed the invasion to take place at 5:00 p.m on October 29, 2021. “On the agreed date and time, they all assembled at the Ministry of Justice (whether outside the Ministry or inside an office in the Ministry, as their statements were not too clear on this).
“One thing was certain: none of the accused persons ever met Lawrence Ajodo sitting in an office space in the Federal Ministry of Justice.
“On the day of the operation, they met at the Federal Ministry of Justice before proceeding. They (the defendants) proceeded from the Federal Ministry of Justice car park for the operation. The operation got terminated when they could not gain further entrance into the house of Justice Mary Odili after entering the compound.”
The report also revealed the defence put up by both Malami and Iyanna who signed the controversial search warrant, regarding their roles in the botched outing.
“The Chief Magistrate, Mr Emmanuel Iyanna was confronted with these inconsistencies. His response was that after CSP Ajodo left his office with the signed search warrant, he took a closer look at the copies of the application CSP Ajodo presented before him and noticed that the words ‘Street’ and ‘Close’ were used interchangeably in the application, affidavit and the search warrant itself.
“According to him, knowing the importance of specificity and exactitude of address in the issuance and execution of a search warrant, he instructed the Registrar of the Court to immediately call CSP Lawrence Ajodo, draw his attention to the above and ask him to come back to his office to clarify the use of “Street” and ‘Close’.
“However CSP Ajodo who promised to come back for him to correct the slip relating to the issue of address never did. Having waited till 5:30 p.m that day without seeing him, Chief Magistrate Iyanna said he, suo motu revoked the Search Warrant. “He further stated that he communicated this Revocation Order to CSP Ajodo that same day through his registrar, even though the mode of communication by the registrar was not made clear in his response.
The chief magistrate was asked if the revocation order was made before the invasion or after. His Honour stated that it was before the invasion, and that the invasion was done on a revoked search warrant that was illegally obtained by CSP Ajodo.
“When asked why he did not seek to know the name of the occupant of the said address, he answered that he actually demanded the name of the occupants of the address, but that CSP Lawrence Ajodo and the whistle-blower orally swore before him and in the presence of his registrar that the premises sought to be searched was an uncompleted building used by unknown persons suspected to be carrying out some illegal activities.
“Most importantly, he said, he quickly revoked the said Search Warrant when it became apparent to him that the search warrant with a vague address should not be allowed to be executed on any address. The revocation was done on the same day,” the report said.
The panel subsequently recommended that “the chief magistrate be reprimanded and recalled to his duty post, with a warning that he must be more circumspect in the future to avoid situations like the one he found himself.”
Malami, according to the report, was consistent in his claim of innocence.
The investigator says of his interaction with him, “The Attorney-General started by stating that there is a unit in his ministry called asset tracing, recovery and management committee established sometime in 2019 pursuant to the Asset Tracing, Recovery and Management Committee Regulation 2019.
“It is an inter-ministerial committee comprising of representatives from ministries.
“It is an inter-ministerial committee comprising of representatives from ministries, departments and agencies of government. The committee coordinates the asset recovery and management system on properties of the Federal Government both locally and internationally.
“If the committee receives any information about illicit property or money of the Federal Government hidden anywhere, the ministry will forward the information to the appropriate security agency or law firm to handle.
“The committee, according to him, does not on its own handle any sting operation.
He, therefore, disassociated the Ministry from any alleged Ghost Account, Local Whistle-blower, Joint Panel Recovery Unit or similar name the perpetrators may have called themselves.
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