The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, has warned security operatives in the country to desist from embarrassing his judicial officers, as he would not take kindly to a repeat of any ugly treatment from the security operatives.
The CJN, who gave this warning on Thursday, December 9, at an event held at the Supreme Court to mark the 2021/2022 legal year, stressed that the judiciary has had enough dosage of the embarrassment and harassment of its officers across the country and its silence should never be mistaken for weakness or stupidity.
According to him, judicial officers by the nature of their work are conservative but should not be pushed further by any individual, institution or agency of the government, because with time those taking the judiciary as a mere weakling will soon realise that it is from the calmest seas that we often experience the fiercest storms, noting that the time judicial officers are harassed or intimated, are gone.
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He said that there is no law in the country that permits anyone to invade any citizen’s residence with a fraudulently obtained search warrant. He disclosed that they are making efforts to ensure that, going forward, every search or arrest warrant must be issued with the knowledge/approval of the chief judge of the respective state or federal high court as the case may be.
Justice Tanko Muhammad further remarked that Nigeria is not a lawless society and therefore its citizens should begin to do things that will project the country favourably and rightly to the international community.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria also disclosed that during the 2020/2021 legal year, the supreme court entertained 681 cases comprising of motions and appeals and representing 312 civil; 95 criminal and 5 political.
In the same vein, the court considered 269 appeals comprising of 139 civil; 102 criminal and 28 political, while a total of 216 judgements were delivered by the court in the year under review.
The CJN urged the Executive, Legislative and the Judiciary to work assiduously to better the lot of the citizenry.
Similarly, he reminded all newly elevated Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SAN, that the rank of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria comes with immense prestige and greater responsibilities and they should therefore always be of good moral conduct.
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