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TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
Vanguard for Defence of Justice and Good Governance has condemned the recent attack on Justice Mary Odili of the Supreme Court, following her verdict that overturned the Bayelsa State governorship election in favour of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The group, in a statement issued by its president, Braid Jasper, and secretary, Jumbo Ashaka, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said the protest was an “attack on the sanctity of Nigerian judiciary.”
The group said its findings revealed that, the protesters, who attacked the Abuja residence of Justice Odili, perpetrated the act because she was wife to former Rivers State governor and PDP chieftain, Dr. Peter Odili.
It described the action of the protesters as unfortunate, noting that there was not any demonstration in cases where Justice Odili ruled in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It noted: “Our findings show that the irate APC youths, who attacked Mary Odili’s Abuja home, claimed that the judgement was influenced by the fact that Justice Mary’s husband, Dr. Peter Odili, former governor of Rivers State and one time presidential aspirant on the platform of the PDP, was the principal reason the judgement went against the APC.
“Nothing could be more misplaced than this misconception. It will be recalled that Dr. Peter Odili was still in PDP when his dear wife, Justice Mary Odili wrote and read the lead judgements that upturned the election petitions of Lagos, Kaduna, Nasarawa and Katsina states, which were all won by the APC.
“Our question is: where were these attackers when all of the above judgements happened under Justice Mary Odili’s watch?
The group, however, called on the security agencies to, “as a matter of national importance, arrest and prosecute anybody, who made inciting statements that led to the attack on Justice Mary Odili and all those involved in such attacks.”
