The Department of State Services on Tuesday gave an account of its raid on the official residence of a judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, on October 7, 2016.
The leader of the DSS team, which carried out the raid, Mr. Ike Onuoha, gave the details of the operation when he appeared before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Maitama, as the second prosecution witness in the ongoing joint trial of Justice Ademola; his wife, Olabowale; and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Joe Agi.
Ihuoha said: “When we entered the premises, we called on Ken (Justice Ademola’s cook) to call the judge with his mobile phone. Ken called the judge severally but he refused to pick. Much later, the judge sent a text message that he was not in town. After repeated calls, he switched off his phone. At that point, we had no option but to force open the main door. When we entered, we saw Justice Ademola in the master’s bedroom upstairs in his night wears. That was few minutes after 12 midnight.”
Ihuoha, however, said his team granted the judge’s request to allow his lawyer (Agi) to arrive before starting the search.
He said, “As we continued our search on the ground floor, we encountered a locked bedroom.
“We requested the keys, but we were not given. We then had no option but to force open the door. Inside the bedroom, we saw a locked wardrobe which we also had to force open when the keys were not made available to us.”
According to him, the sums of N39.5m in N1,000 denomination; N8.5m in N1,000 denomination; N6m; £121,179; 4,400; £80 pounds and 1,010 Indian Rupees, were found in bags planted in different locations in the house.
He said, “Inside the wardrobe, we found a Ghana-must-go bag containing various N1,000 denomination notes to the tune of N39.5m after counting it on the spot. We also found two black pump action rifles and 35 life cartridges of ammunition. We also found a silver-coloured flash drive.”
Ihuoha added that his team found another locked room where his team mates found the sum of N8.5m in N1,000 denomination.
He said the money was found inside a black-and- white medium-sized bag which was locked up in a wardrobe.
The DSS operative said his team also found “in the master’s bedroom, in an open wardrobe, a black bag where we found the sum of N6m, 121,179 US dollars, 4,400 Euros, 80 pounds, 1,010 Indian Rupees.
“We also recovered six ATM cards, eight cheque books, eight deposit slips for various banks, two firearm licences – one for Honourable Justice A.R. Muhammed, the other for Honourable Justice Adeniyi Ademola. We also recovered two Apple ipads.”
Under cross-examination, Ihuoha confirmed that the licences for the rifles were renewable and that their issuance and renewal were the responsibilities of the police.
Ihuoha said his investigation did not extend to interviewing Justice A.R. Muhammed to ascertain the reason why a gun was licensed in his name but found in the residence of Justice Ademola.
The leader of the DSS team, which carried out the raid, Mr. Ike Onuoha, gave the details of the operation when he appeared before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Maitama, as the second prosecution witness in the ongoing joint trial of Justice Ademola; his wife, Olabowale; and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Joe Agi.
Ihuoha said: “When we entered the premises, we called on Ken (Justice Ademola’s cook) to call the judge with his mobile phone. Ken called the judge severally but he refused to pick. Much later, the judge sent a text message that he was not in town. After repeated calls, he switched off his phone. At that point, we had no option but to force open the main door. When we entered, we saw Justice Ademola in the master’s bedroom upstairs in his night wears. That was few minutes after 12 midnight.”
Ihuoha, however, said his team granted the judge’s request to allow his lawyer (Agi) to arrive before starting the search.
He said, “As we continued our search on the ground floor, we encountered a locked bedroom.
“We requested the keys, but we were not given. We then had no option but to force open the door. Inside the bedroom, we saw a locked wardrobe which we also had to force open when the keys were not made available to us.”
According to him, the sums of N39.5m in N1,000 denomination; N8.5m in N1,000 denomination; N6m; £121,179; 4,400; £80 pounds and 1,010 Indian Rupees, were found in bags planted in different locations in the house.
He said, “Inside the wardrobe, we found a Ghana-must-go bag containing various N1,000 denomination notes to the tune of N39.5m after counting it on the spot. We also found two black pump action rifles and 35 life cartridges of ammunition. We also found a silver-coloured flash drive.”
Ihuoha added that his team found another locked room where his team mates found the sum of N8.5m in N1,000 denomination.
He said the money was found inside a black-and- white medium-sized bag which was locked up in a wardrobe.
The DSS operative said his team also found “in the master’s bedroom, in an open wardrobe, a black bag where we found the sum of N6m, 121,179 US dollars, 4,400 Euros, 80 pounds, 1,010 Indian Rupees.
“We also recovered six ATM cards, eight cheque books, eight deposit slips for various banks, two firearm licences – one for Honourable Justice A.R. Muhammed, the other for Honourable Justice Adeniyi Ademola. We also recovered two Apple ipads.”
Under cross-examination, Ihuoha confirmed that the licences for the rifles were renewable and that their issuance and renewal were the responsibilities of the police.
Ihuoha said his investigation did not extend to interviewing Justice A.R. Muhammed to ascertain the reason why a gun was licensed in his name but found in the residence of Justice Ademola.
