How BVN exposed corrupt judges arrested by DSS

Arrested judges: Ngwuta, Okoro and Ademola

-Sources within the Department of State Security (DSS) have revealed that the implemented Bank Verification Number (BVN) was responsible for its operative to trace several millions to alleged corrupt judges

– DSS access to the bank accounts of the detained judges revealed that they had been taking bribes from many sources in the discharge of their duties but used the names and pictures of their wives, children and siblings to open such banks account

Sources within the Department of State
Security (DSS) have revealed that the
implemented Bank Verification Number
(BVN) was responsible for its operative to
trace several millions to alleged corrupt
judges who are currently in its custody.
Recall that seven judges- Justice Inyang
Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme
Court; Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High
Court, Abuja; Kabir Auta of the Kano High
Court; Muazu Pindiga of Gombe High Court,
Mohammed Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal
in Ilorin, and the Chief Judge of Enugu State,
I. A. Umezulike- have been arrested and
currently in detention at the SSS office.
In a report by Vanguard newspaper, DSS
access to the bank accounts of the detained
judges and revealed that they had been
taking bribes from many sources in the
discharge of their duties but used the names
and pictures of their wives, children and
siblings to open such banks account.
“When we brought in most of the children,
wives and relatives of the suspects based on
the papers we got from the banks, they did not
even have an idea that their names had been
used by the judges to open such accounts.
“But you see under the Bank Verification
Number, you must put in your passports,
name, signature and others. So, for some of
the judges, who used fake names and their
wives names to open the accounts into which
they paid in the proceeds of crime, they
foolishly appended their signatures or used
their pictures, something that gave them out.
“From what we have found out, some of the
suspects acted foolishly in committing the
offence because they cannot prove that even if
their children were to earn N1 million monthly
since they were born till date, none of them
can accumulate the amount of money we have
traced to their accounts and the type of
property they have.
“Look, it may interest you to know that one of
the two Supreme Court judges in our custody
has a property worth N1.5 billion in one of the
South-South states. If we may ask, where did
he get the money to set up such project?”
“As far as we are concerned, there is nothing
unusual in arresting corrupt judges and taking
them to court because it would be an offence
against the nation to continue to turn a blind
eye to mounting corruption in the judiciary.’’
The report also pointed that another judge,
who is being detained and questioned,
disguised as a shopper in one of the
supermarkets and ended up collecting bribes
in Dollars from a ‘client’ only to be caught on
CCTV camera.
Commenting on the botched arrest of a
judge in Rivers by Governor Nyesom Wike,
the official wondered what Mr Wike went to
do at that time of the night, if he was not
part of the judge’s deal.
“It was the governor, who blocked the DSS
operatives from seizing the $2 million crime
proceeds, which the judge had made from the
PDP crisis stoked by a faction backed by the
governor.
“But for the our highly professional operatives
and service direction, we would have beaten
up Wike that night so that he would have
explanations to make on why he went to a
crime scene at odd hours and aided a suspect
to move $2 million crime proceeds to an
unknown location.
“But we already have an idea of where the
money was moved to and we are going to
retrieve it and bring the judge to trial. As a
matter of fact, we are going to treat the Port
Harcourt FHC judge case as a ‘special case’,
given his collusion with the governor to
obstruct our work.

“The behaviour of the judge has worsened his
case. In the last three months, the judge has
been going across the Nigerian borders with
other countries collecting bribes for himself
and others.’’
The source also indicated that the judges
might be allowed to go home as soon as
they answered the questions put to them by
the operatives, adding that they were being
given royal treatment, in view of their status
and the need to give them a conducive
atmosphere to speak up.
Meanwhile, Police authorities is set to
sanction the commissioner of police in
Rivers state, Francis Odesanya for his role in
the foiled arrest of a judge of the Federal
High Court, Port Harcourt by Rivers state
governor, Nyesome Wike.