DSS will raid more homes of Justices in the coming days

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October 11, 2016 1:30 PM

An anonymous DSS source has said that more arrests are imminent after last week's nationwide raid

A source within the Department of State Services (DSS) has revealed to Pulse that more Judges suspected of corruption will have their homes raided in the days ahead.

Last Saturday, the DSS raided the homes of Supreme and High Court Justices in Nigeria, sparking a heated debate on the place of the rule of law in the nation’s fledgling democracy.

Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court; Mohammed Tsamiya of the Appeal Court; Adeniyi Ademola and Muazu Pindiga of the Federal Hight Court; Innocent Umezulike who is the Chief Judge of Enugu State and Kabir Auta of the Kano State High Court, were all picked up in pre-dawn raids in Nigerian cities of Abuja, Sokoto and PortHarcourt.

The Judges have since been granted bail on basis of self-recognition, pending their respective trials.

ALSO READ: Inside the very 'corrupt' world of Nigeria's Judiciary

Speaking to Pulse on Tuesday morning, the DSS source said the agency has enough evidence in its kitty to nail the affected Judges, while adding that more arrests are imminent.

“We’ll be arresting close to nine more Judges in the next couple of weeks”, said the source who craved anonymity for this story because he hadn’t been authorized to comment on the subject.

“Some of these Judges have literally been getting away with murder by selling judgements to a corrupt political elite. There’ll be getting their just desserts. We also want Nigerians to know that we’ll secure arrest warrants before carrying out our raids and that we’ll act within the purviews of the law”, the source added.

Pulse called the cellphone of one of the affected Justices, Ngwuta, who declined comment for this story, citing a case of subjudice.

The raids have been compared to the dark days of military dictatorship in Nigeria, in which a certain General Muhammadu Buhari played a part.

A presidency spokesperson however told Pulse that the Presidency will not interfere in the affairs of the enforcement agencies.

“This is an attack on corruption, not on the Judiciary”, said the spokesperson, reiterating an official government statement made public in the wake of the raids.

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