The Department of State Services, DSS, in a nationwide crackdown on Friday night began arresting judges suspected to have collected huge cash to pervert the cause of justice before, during and after the 2015 general elections as well as in other cases.
Premium Times reports that attempts were made to arrest two Supreme Court judges, adding that the official quarters of Walter Onnoghen, who was recently recommended to President Muhammadu Buhari as the next Chief Justice of Nigeria, and Sylvester Ngwuta also of the Supreme Court were besieged by the DSS for several hours overnight.
The DSS has however denied that it tried to arrest Onnoghen nor did it invite him for questioning.
The clampdown, which began in Gombe State with the arrest of Muazu Pindigi who served on the elections tribunal in Rivers State, continued in Abuja on Friday night into early Saturday morning.
In Abuja, the DSS stormed the the home Nnamdi Dimgba and Adeniyi Ademola, both of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, in their official residences located inside Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja.
Ademola was later arrested in the early hours of Saturday while Dimgba’s brother was reportedly assaulted by the operatives.
A source, who pleaded anonymity, told the medium that Dimgba’s residence was surrounded on Friday night for a recent decision he made against the continued detention of a retired Air Commodre, Mohammed Umar, who was arrested following allegations of fraud, illegal possession of firearms and abuse of trust.
Umar was granted bail with a bond of N100 million.
According to the source, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,
Justice Dimgba, in a recent ruling, ordered the DSS to release Umar or risk being committed by his court.
He said the DSS had earlier been told by a magistrate court to release the accused, but instead they brought the matter before the Federal High Court.
When Dimgba, however, learnt that an order had previously been made for the release of Umar, he decided that his court would maintain the same order and its conditions for bail.
Dimgba also ordered the DSS to remand the accused at the Kuje maximum security prison, pending the time when he would meet the conditions for bail.
That order was also in furtherance of the decision made at the magistrate court.
According to the report, the DSS failed to obey the order and continued to hold Umar.
Meanwhile, there were reports that three judges from Sokoto, Bauchi and Kano were also taken into custody by the secret police for allegedly collecting bribes.