Arrested judges: Allow justice take its course, MURIC tells NBA
NAN-H-95
Appeal
By Suleiman Shehu
Ibadan, Oct. 10, 2016 (NAN)Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an NGO, has advised the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to stop its threat to boycott the courts and allow justice take its course over the arrest of some judges by the Department of State Services (DSS).
MURIC’s Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, gave the advice in a statement issued on Monday in Ibadan and made available to newsmen.
Akintola asked the NBA to look around the world and tell Nigerians where judges were allowed to get away with dirty deals.
He said that Nigerians could fold their arms while Nigerian judges corruptly enrich themselves.
“ MURIC welcomes the action taken by the Federal Government to curb corruption in the judiciary.
“Recent revelations have shown that judges collude with criminals and corrupt politicians to thwart efforts aimed at reducing the rate of crime and corruption.
“The judiciary, as the last hope of the common man, must be above board and therefore, the bad eggs must be dealt with.’’
He cited India, China and Ghana as good examples where judges were arrested and punished for corrupt practices, noting that 867 Indian judges were arrested and punished for corrupt practices in 2011.
“Two other judges were arrested in India in 2014 for collecting money to settle cases in favour of the givers.
“China’s lawyers did not pull down the Chinese sky. But in Nigeria, NBA wants us to rain praises on corrupt judges.
“In Ghana, about 34 judges were recently charged for corruption while 20 of them were dismissed on Dec. 8, 2015, and Ghanaians did not celebrate the corrupt judges.’’
According to Akintola, corruption cannot be eliminated or reduced, if we always want to defend the indefensible once the affected persons have the slightest affiliation to us.
“We all pledged unalloyed support to the Federal Government’s war against corruption,’’ the MURIC director said. (NAN)
SYS/NKO/NKO
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Edited by Nkechi Okoronkwo
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