Details Of How Justice Liman Allegedly Took Bribe From Gov. Wike

MICHAEL AKINOLA With agencies reports

Emnattled Justice Mohammed Liman

Revelations are still coming out from the ongoing crackdown on some Nigeria senior judges across the country. One of the main gladiators in the entire sting operation is Justice Mohammed Liman attached to the Port Harcourt Division of the Federal High Court.

Sources at the State Security Services (SSS), said Justice Liman is being wanted to answer queries on an allegation that he took bribes from Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike to give favourable judgment to the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The sources also accused the judge of habitually crossing Nigerian borders to allegedly receive bribes from litigants.

Justice Liman is among eight other judges being investigated apart from the seven arrested in the Friday night raids across the country.

“We received a petition that he (Justice Liman) received bribes to give his ruling and our investigations confirmed it,” a top SSS official told an online medium.

The source added that Liman is “also a distributor” who receives bribes on behalf of other judges and helps distribute it.

“He travels across the border to Ghana, Republic of Benin and other West African countries to meet lawyers in hotels to take bribes for himself and his colleagues on the bench,” he said.

Early Saturday morning, Justice Liman escaped being arrested by the operatives of the DSS after Governor Wike allegedly mobilised thugs to thwart the search of the judge’s house for the retrieval of a $2 million cash stashed in the house and his arrest.

But the DSS source said the amount involved in Liman’s botched arrest was actually $2.5 million, and gave more explanation as to why operatives’ failed to arrest the judge or get the money.

“The vehicle that was used to cart away the $2 million was faster than our men’s own,” the source said. “They just couldn’t catch up with them at such a high speed. It’s like chasing a 7-cylinder vehicle with a 3-cylinder.”

“We will arrest him in coming days; we have no doubt about this as we have enough evi‎dence to nail him in court. By bringing Governor Wike in, he has worsened his own case.”

The DSS was resolute in their action as they claimed to have made “a shocking discovery” on some of the judges under investigation. They claimed to be in possession of audio and video tapes of some of the judges collecting bribe.

While one of the judges just acquired a N1.5billion mansion, another allegedly collected bribe in a department store and one allegedly crossed the borders to Benin Republic, Niger Republic and Ghana to collect money.

A Court of Appeal judge allegedly collected N200million but he was only recommended for retirement and the NJC directed him to refund the cash installmentally.

According to investigation, seven of the 15 judges under probe have been detained by the DSS.

Those detained are two Supreme Court judges-Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro; the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya, who was picked up in Sokoto; Justice Adeniyi Ademola( Federal High Court); the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike; Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court; and Justice Muazu Pindiga( Gombe State High Court).

The DSS has also invited three registry staff of some courts, who probably played some roles in the bribery saga, for questioning.

On the welfare of detained judges, the source said: “We have treated the seven judges in custody with utmost respect, decency, they are not treated like criminals at all. Their interrogation does not last more than two hours and they are given meals of their fancy.

“The judges are being detained. They need to fill some forms. Also, if they had answered our questions, they would have been released under one hour.

“Some of these judges have made statements to our team. We have also shown them some evidence in order to show that the DSS was tidier in in its probe.”

The source gave insights into “curious” findings against some of the judges.

He said: “A Supreme Court Justice has a property worth N1.5 billion. If not DSS, which other agency will unravel this? Are you expecting the police to take on these judges?

“Another Supreme Court justice credited everything to his son. If the son started earning a living from the day he was born (assuming he was earning N1 million), he cannot be able to earn one quarter of what he is claiming to have.

“We said it is very simple, tell us the business or the work you have done to have been able to earn so much.

“A judge entered a department store not to buy anything but to collect bribe, inside a supermarket from a go-between. Unknown to the judge and the collector, there are cameras in the store. The video clip is there.

“Another judge under probe has perfected the art of being a bribe collector on behalf of others. He is notorious in crossing the borders to Benin Republic, Niger Republic and Ghana. We know some of the hotels where he used to lodge.”

The source went on: “We have the case of a judge who issued bail conditions to an accused person but the conditions were not met and the suspect was released. After the court session, the accused person sent word to the judge that he could not meet the conditions but take this amount to set me free.

“Of course, the judge did not act alone; the court clerk, the bailiff and the Registrar were involved. The DSS knew all that transpired, the amount involved and who took what. When we confronted the Registrar to give us the details of how the bail conditions were met, there was no single evidence.

“The judge in Port Harcourt is under probe for about $2.5million. Out of that amount, $500,000 was moved elsewhere and we know where it went.

“They mobilised thugs because the recovery of the remaining $2million will be a lead that will open a can of worms. That face-off was used to remove the money. We are tracking the money, we already have the idea of where the $2million was hidden. We will get it.

“Governor Nyesom Wike’s fear was that once that money was taken, the judge must account. So, there was need to cover up. The judge exposed himself by bringing Wike into the investigation and he has made his case worse. The question is: Why was Wike at the judge’s house? Is the judge’s house a government house? How can a governor be in that place at that hour?

“The judge gave a ruling on the PDP crisis by legitimising the illegitimate for a purpose.”

But Governor Wike whom the DSS blamed for frustrated the planned arrest of Justice Liman, in a statement early Sunday dismissed the allegation as an attempt by the security agency to divert attention from its gross desecration of the constitution.‎

According to Wike, the DSS “concocted the allegations to justify an unconstitutional assault on the nation’s judiciary.”

Wike said he didn’t know the judge, but he moved in to prevent him from being taken away because the mode of the arrest did not comply with the dictates of the law.

“In the police, erring and corrupt policemen are first given orderly room trial, sacked and then appropriately prosecuted,” Wike said. “For judicial officers, the DSS has no role.”

Justice Liman has also been quoted as denying the allegation against him.

“I’m not asking anybody to believe or disbelieve whether I stashed $2 million, an amount that is equivalent to about N1b,” an online judicial medium. TheNigerianlawyer.com quoted the judge in a statement.

“Perhaps you might think the SSS probably exaggerated the amount, but all these would have been relevant considerations if they had actually searched my house.

“If I had $2m or even a quarter of it I would have abandoned this horrible profession that has lost its dignity. In fact I have already lost interest in it and have made up my mind to say bye bye to it. I believe there is a life beyond every other thing.”

But on the insinuations that the DSS could have planted the recovered cash in the judges’ quarters, the DSS source said: “The DSS did not do anything like that. In fact, the judges signed for items recovered from their residences.

“If you crosscheck, the operation was spontaneous and simultaneous in the judges’ quarters. It started between 10.30pm and 11pm on Friday night. It was painstaking and professionally conducted. Technically speaking, the DSS gave the time and the cameras used for the operation were digitalised.

“The search was conducted in the presence of the owners of the houses. There was no molestation, no harassment. We don’t need to plant money in anybody’s house because we have all subscribed to the oath of office. In an era where the government is trying to be fair, we don’t need to do that.

“There was search warrant duly obtained from the court. The execution of a search warrant does not require the presence of a lawyer. Even at that, one of the judges invited his lawyer who examined the warrant and asked him to cooperate with the DSS operatives.”

Responding to a question, the source said: “The DSS is in custody of some audio and video tapes of some of these judges. By the time we start running these tapes, Nigerians will appreciate that we have done a good job.

“The DSS did not just jump into investigation, it received petitions on these judges on how they literally took money. The worst aspect is that they took money with both hands.

“Some of these things were becoming disturbing and people were bringing facts and figures. We went to verify these. If a judge builds a house, it is easier to discover because he might have bought the land from an individual or an agency or estate agent. There is no way you can cover up all these things.”

Concerning why the DSS stormed the official quarters of the judges, the source added that the poor cooperation of the NJC accounted for it.”

He spoke of how the DSS decided to go through the NJC to invite the judges for investigation “in a less dramatic way”. Correspondences were exchanged between the NJC and the Federal Ministry of Justice for certain information and dossier. The Ministry of Justice complied but the NJC refused, he claimed.

“We wanted to intervene in a less dramatic way. In fact,MIT was our wish, it would have been seamless. But it did not work that way.

“In the last two weeks, the NJC submitted the names of three judges for sanctions. By what the NJC told the press, one of the judges, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya, only demanded N200million from a litigant, but the DSS discovered that he took the money.

“The NJC asked the Appeal Court Justice to be paying back the N200million instalmentallly. Is that punishment proportionate to the offence? The NJC went ahead to give such a judge soft landing. That in itself is corruption,” the source said, adding:

“Other officers were to be retired. Then, what happens to the proceeds of the crimes committed? How is that action going to stop corruption?

“Notwithstanding, DSS is working with everybody. We are in touch with NJC. Even today, we exchanged correspondence with the NJC. We don’t personalize issues.

“For record purpose, NJC is not a court of law; it is an institutional disciplinary body which ought to collaborate with security and anti-graft agencies.”

The Nigerian Bar Association, in an emergency meeting held at Eko Hotels & Suites, Lagos, swiftly condemned the DSS operations by describing the raids as an attempt to intimidate judges and demanded an immediate release of those arrested.

“We are in a democratic society and we cannot accept a situation where armed, masked SSS operatives invade homes of the justices of the Supreme Court and judges of our high courts.

“This is a ploy by the executive to intimidate the judiciary and we will not accept it. The NBA will not accept it. I want to emphasise again that we’re not under military rule and we cannot accept this Gestapo style of operations.” Abubakar Mahmoud, NBA president, said Saturday.

But a senior lawyer, Femi Falana, said the raids were justified since the bar and the bench had allegedly failed to check corruption in the judiciary.

He called for the prompt trial of the arrested judges.‎