The police on Thursday paraded 14 suspects involved in the October 29 raid on Justice Mary Odili’s Maitama residence in Abuja, with more facts emerging over the ugly incident.
The police found out that the team who stormed the apartment were not security operatives.
The men were said to have been led by a fake Chief Superintendent of Police, Lawrence Ajojo, who admitted that he was engaged as a consultant by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.
Parading the suspects at the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Garki, Abuja, the Force spokesman, Frank Mba, said the suspects involved in the criminal act came from different professional backgrounds.
Ajojo told journalists that he was not a police officer, adding that he was a consultant to the AGF.
“I am not an officer of the Nigeria Police but a consultant for the AGF; he did not send us to raid Mrs Odili’s house,” he stated.
It will be recalled that a complement of security operatives had stormed Justice Odili’s Maitama residence on the strength of a purported tip by a whistleblower, Aliyu Umar, who claimed to have observed suspicious activities at the Supreme Court Justice’s residence.
Following an order by Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna, who approved the search warrant by a body identified as the Joint Panel Recovery unit in the Ministry of Justice, on October 29, 2021, the security operatives besieged Odili’s home but they were reportedly resisted.
The magistrate later revoked the order, saying he was misled.
The incident sparked an outrage with the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, absolving his office of involvement in the operation.
The police leadership also said it was not aware of the raid.
