The Rivers State National Assembly Caucus has condemned the recent attack on the Abuja residence of Justice Mary Odili by suspected sponsored political thugs.
The Caucus also expressed concerns over the silence of the Federal Government and security agencies on the attack, which it described as an “audacious act of primitivism and grave threat whereby placard-carrying thugs invaded the privacy of the Odilis and erected barricades against their residence forno other reason than that Justice Mary Odili participated in the Bayelsa governorshipappeal as one among a five-man panel which heard the appeal and reached a unanimousdecision that grates with the APC”.
It said in a statement jointly signed by Senator George Sekibo, and Hon. Kingsley Chinda, Sunday that the latest act constituted a new dimension in the continuing assault against the judiciary and, again, underlines Nigeria’s inexorable degeneration and descent into rapid lawlessness.
The statement reads; “We recall that in 2015 Rivers State was the victim of unfavorable judicial decisions where, in literally one fell swoop, 15 out its 16 members of the National Assembly were sacked. Painful as the decisions were, there was no recourse to self-help or threat of violence against any of the Justices who sat on the appeals.
“We would like to point out that Justice Mary Odili who has been inexplicably and unfairly targeted since the Bayelsa governorship decision, was a member of other panels of the Supreme Court which gave judgment in favor of at least three APC governors who are in office today.
“Finally, we call on Nigerians and the international community to note this egregious assault on the dignity and office of a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and hold agents of the All Progressives Congress and their backers responsible should any harm befall Justice Mary Odili or any member of her family.”
