NBA speaks out on intrusion into Court of Appeals judge's home by EFCC officers

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to take disciplinary action against its officers who invaded the home of a Court of Appeal judge, Ita Mbaba, in the wee hours of Wednesday in Kano, Kano State.

NBA President Yakubu Maikyau, in a statement Wednesday, also called on the commission to issue a public apology to Mr. Mbaba, chairman of the Kano Division of the Court of Appeals.

This comes hours after the EFCC admitted in a statement on Wednesday that its agents had visited the property housing Mr Mbaba's residence in Kano, but that the judge was not their target.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the commission said the visit by its officers was for a verification exercise regarding the property.

He said that Mr. Mbaba had no connection with the ownership of the property and therefore could not have been the subject of his investigations.

The property, according to EFCC, is located on Sheik Yusuf Adam Game Street, near Race Cross Road, Nasarawa Government Reservation Area, Kano.

The commission added that the property was in the spotlight of the EFCC "due to an ongoing matter involving the owner of the property".

But in response, Mr Maikyau called the incident "unfortunate", adding that he had called EFCC chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa to express the NBA's concern over the matter.

He said the timing of the intrusion, which he says took place around 5 a.m. Wednesday, and the way the EFCC “property verification exercise” claimed its officers went out there to perform "leaves a lot to be desired, to say the least."

He added that the statement from the anti-corruption agency "failed to apologize to His Lordship and the Judiciary for the invasion of His Lordship's privacy and the embarrassment that resulted from it. resulted by the actions of its agents".

“Such a check could have been done without armed officers, at a more appropriate time of day, and through civil procedure. We are a country of laws and regulations, and we must respect the state of law and due process.

"I therefore call on the EFCC not only to take appropriate disciplinary action against the officers involved, but also to issue a public apology to His Lordship, the President of the Court of Appeal, Kano Division, and the entire judiciary.< /p>

"The NBA will monitor compliance with these requirements," the statement added.

The EFCC statement had released its statement to deny having investigated Mr. Mbaba.

Media reported that the judge was under investigation following the invasion of his house by EFCC agents.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Nigeria recently raided the homes of judges by law enforcement officers, although the EFCC was never involved until the latest.< /p>

It started when agents of the State Security Service (SSS) raided the homes of some judges, including two Supreme Court justices, in Abuja and other parts of the country in 2016.< /p>

Soon after, security agencies, including the EFCC, began taking judges to court over allegations of corruption.

Similar to the SSS's invasion of the homes of some judges in 2016, some security agents besieged the home of a Supreme Court justice, Mary Odili, the wife of a former governor of the State of Rivers, Peter Odili, at Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja on October 29, 2021.

Ms Odili retired as a Supreme Court Justice in May this year.

The raid on his official residence was led by Lawrence Adjodo, who claimed to be a police officer with a search warrant to be executed on the house.

A magistrate in Abuja who issued the warrant later withdrew it. He said he was misled to issue it.

Along with other security agencies and Federation Attorney General Abubakar Malami, the EFCC had denied knowledge of the raid.