Madaki Chidawa, Deputy Superintendent of Police (ASP), recounted in Abuja Federal High Court on Monday how he thwarted last year’s controversial search of the Abuja home of High Court Justice Mary Odili.
Mr. Chidawa, a police officer assigned to the Supreme Court, is attached to Ms. Odili’s house located at No. 7, Imo River Street, Maitama in Abuja.
The witness for the prosecution, who said he had been a police officer for 29 years, told the court that he was present at Ms. Odili’s residence when a team of armed security officers stormed the premises on October 19, 2021. .
Ms. Odili, who is the second highest-ranking Justice on the Supreme Court, is the wife of a former Rivers State Governor, Peter Odili.
Fifteen defendants, including a housewife, are being tried for the alleged illegal search of the residence before the trial judge, Nkeonye Maha, of the Abuja Federal High Court.
The accused also include an alleged fake police officer, Lawrence Adjodo, who claimed to be a chief superintendent of police, who led the raid on Ms. Odili’s official residence.
Testimony
Led by the police lawyer, Mathew Omosun, the prosecution witness, Mr. Chidwa, told the court that the accused broke into the house in the form of Gestapo at around 6:00 pm on the day.
Testifying, the police officer said that the defendants demanded to execute a search warrant on the house as a team of the Commission of Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) and the Asset Recovery Panel attached to the Federal Ministry of Justice, a claim since denied by the federal government.
“On October 29, 2021, at around 6:00 p.m., I was on duty at Judge Odili’s residence at No. 7, Imo River Road when (armed security officers) arrived.
“A CSP Lawrence Adjodo and others came and presented a document and said they wanted to search the house and I asked from where.
“They said they were from the EFCC, the Asset Recovery unit attached to the Ministry of Justice and I said I want to see the document and they presented me with the search warrant, which I passed, signed by a Chief Magistrate in FCT”, the witness. narrated.
He told the court that he demanded the search warrant and upon review found that the search warrant was signed by a senior judge and addressed to 9 Imo Crescent, Abuja.
The first witness for the prosecution explained that he took advantage of the incorrect address on the search warrant to resist the execution of the warrant, as Ms. Odili’s house is at 7 Imo Rivers Street.
“And I said, this is number 9, Imo River Street, not number 7. But Lawrence Ajodo said this is the house that they need to search,” Chidawa said.
The witness further informed the court that he subsequently ran to the superior court judge, who promptly made a few phone calls that ultimately led to the alleged illegal mission of the defendants.
“Then I informed my boss, Judge Mary Odili, that some men came to conduct a search,” he added.
He said that realizing that the mission had been aborted, Mr. Adjodo, who allegedly produced a suspicious identity card from the Federal Ministry of Justice, threatened to deal with him when they returned with reinforcements. But he said Mr. Ajodo never came back.
cross-examination
Under questioning by Ahmed Abubakar, counsel for the first and fourth defendants, Mr. Chidawa said that Mr. Ajodo introduced two other people in his team as a Nigerian Army captain and another as EFCC personnel.
The witness said that he voluntarily gave a statement to the police.
The statement was then admitted as evidence by the court.
Thereafter, the judge adjourned the case until March 1 for further cross-examination of the witness.
Bail for the accused
Previously, the judge granted bail of N5 million each with two guarantees each to three of the 15 suspects who were still in custody by order of the court.
The three defendants are Mohammed Yahaya, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Abdullahi Adamu and Abdullahi Usman, the 11th, 14th and 15th defendants respectively.
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Ms. Odili’s residence in Maitama, Abuja, was reportedly invaded on October 29 by armed security officers due to an alleged tip from a whistleblower, Aliyu Umar, who claimed to have observed suspicious activity at the residence.
Prior to the search, a chief magistrate from Abuja, Emmanuel Iyanna, had issued a search warrant to a body identified as the Joint Panel Recovery Unit in the Ministry of Justice, which led to the invasion of Ms. Odili.
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The magistrate, learning of the illegality of the search, revoked the order saying that he had been misled while the police and other security agencies also said that they were not aware of the search.
The siege drew condemnation from many Nigerians and various interest groups, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Supreme Court, the National Assembly, various state governors, civil society organizations, among others.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, had separately denied having authorized the raid or knowledge of it.
The EFCC and the State Security Services (SSS), both also linked to the invasion, also denied involvement.
On December 15, 2021, the Nigerian Police indicted the 15 defendants before Ms. Maha on an 18-count charge that bordered on forgery, trespassing, intimidation, extortion, among other offences.
In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/436/2021, it is also alleged that Ms. Odili and members of her family were threatened while attempting to execute an illegal search warrant.
Some of the defendants prosecuted were Lawrence Adjodo (aka Ola Ojo), Michael Diete-Spiff, Alex Onyekuru, Bayero Lawal (aka EFCC director), Igwe Ernest, Aliyu Umar Ibrahim, Hajiya Maimuna Maishanu, Ayodele Akindipe (also known as Herbalist), Yusuf Adamu. (aka godson of boss Peter Odili).
The rest were Bashir Musa, Mohammed Yahaya, an assistant police superintendent, Stanley Nkwazema, Shehu Jibo, Abdullahi Adamu and Abdullahi Usman.