The Operation Commander of the Assets Recovery Investigation Team, CSP Lawrence Ajodo, wrote a letter to a Chief Magistrate in Abuja, requesting for a warrant to search an area which was the residence of the Supreme Court judge, Mary Odili, SaharaReporters has reported.

SaharaReporters obtained the letter requesting for the search warrant written by CSP Ajodo, whose team is under the Federal Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami.To cover up his tracks and those of his senders, the police commander failed to mention in the application for a warrant that the said area was the apartment of the Supreme Court judge.

Documents obtained by SaharaReporters confirmed that CSP Ajodo made an excuse that the warrant “was to carry out his lawful duty.”

One of the documents, titled, Application for your requisite consent to issue to me CSP Lawrence Ajodo, AP No. 201192 Attached to Joint Panel Receovery under the Ministry of Justice a Search Warrant to Enable me Carry out Investigation of Complaint on oath by Mr Aliyu Umar Ibrahim, about illegal activities at No 9, Imo Street, Maitama, FCT, Abuja.”

The letter dated October 28 was addressed to the Chief Magistrate, Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja.

“May I with due respect apply for the above document to enable me carry out my lawful duty. I do hereby attach collectively for your perusal the nominal complainant affidavit and my own affidavit. We count on you,” he said in the letter.

The emergence of fresh evidence exposing the role of Malami who earlier denied his involvement in the reported invasion of the residence of Justice Odili had been reported earlier.

Justice Odili’s family residence at lmo Rivers Street in Maitama, Abuja, was raided by fully armed plain-clothes security men around 5 pm on Friday, October 29.

The security operatives were said to have comprised soldiers and officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) who identified themselves as members of a joint task force.

Even though he has denied any involvement in the invasion of the house of the number two judge in the country, Malami still has to come clean with convincing explanations.

The Identity Card of the police officer who led the assault on the house of Justice Odili was signed by the AGF.

It had been reported on Saturday that the Chief Magistrate of Wuse Zone 6 Magisterial Division in Abuja, Emmanuel Iyanna, admitted that he was lied to, which made him sign a search warrant allowing the raid on the residence of the Supreme Court judge, Mary Odili.

Iyanna had said he was misled by the Federal Ministry of Justice under Malami.

The Chief Magistrate consequently revoked the search warrant due to misrepresentation in the first information application supplied by an ad hoc public asset recovery panel domiciled under the justice ministry and overseen by Malami.

“Upon misrepresentation to this honourable court that led to the issuance of a search warrant in favour of Joint Panel Recovery, Ministry of Justice, against House 9, Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja, dated October 29, 2021; in view of the above fact, the said search warrant is hereby revoked,” he had ruled.

Sources had said the raid, approved by Malami was to let Odili know that she would not be allowed to succeed the current head of the nation’s judiciary.

SaharaReporters reported on Sunday that there are plans to remove the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Muhammad and the Presidency cabal does not want Odili, who is next in line, to succeed him as she is seen as a ‘PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) judge’

Odili is the wife of a former Governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili, a member of the PDP.

Odili, who was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court on June 23, 2011, was born on May 12, 1952. This means she will be due for retirement by May 12, 2022, on turning 70.

But Muhammad, who was appointed a supreme court judge in 2006 and sworn in on January 8, 2007, was born on December 31, 1953 — meaning he is younger than Justice Odili and will not retire until 2023 when he turns 70.

There have been public outcries and condemnation since Friday over the invasion of Odili’s residence with many calling on the Muhammadu Buhari government to punish and fish out the erring officers behind the invasion if it was not a political game or a witch-hunt.