A group, The Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace Initiative Group, yesterday called on the National Judiciary Council (NJC) to save Rivers State from what it described as judicial insurgency.
The group made the call in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Livingstone Wechie and trustees, Mushach Uyi and Minikwu Samuel, and issued in Port Harcourt and addressed to the Chairman of NJC and Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed.
According to the group, the intervention of the NJC is required to stop the alleged move to compromise justice in a murder case involving a popular politician.
Specifically, the statement alleged that there is a desperate move by vested political interest to compromise justice in the matter especially at the appellate court.
“The Integrity Group in keeping with its Justice and Citizens Watch project seeks an urgent intervention by the NJC and Chief Justice of Nigeria over an alleged acts of mindless abuse of judicial process.”
The group noted the accused in the matter was alleged to have been involved in a shooting incident in which a man lost his life during the April 11, 2015 election in the state.
It decried the alleged political interference in the judicial matter with a view to compromise justice.
While noting that the NJC’s intervention through the apex court had saved the state from being thrown into anarchy in the past, the group called on the body to rise to the occasion and save the state again from desperate politicians.
The statement queried the alleged preferential treatment the accused in the matter was being given while citizens with lesser offence have been made to languish in prison.
The statement, however, stressed that no person accused of murder should be given latitude to commit another offence while a charge is still hanging on his neck.
The group warned that the respect and confidence of the masses in the judiciary would be seriously impaired if the alleged move to compromise the system is not checked.