Ego bruised, regularly embarrassed and harassed by the other arms of government, an angry head of the judicial arm of government roared on Tuesday threatening that the judiciary under his watch will not sit by the sidelines and watch the temple of Justice and ministers of Justice being flagrantly chastised and whipped into silence.

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola at a conference with the 36 Attorneys General of states and the Federal Capital Territory,(FCT) vowed that “no one in this country is permitted under any guise to take the law into his or her hands simply because he or she has the guns to wield.”

Represented by a Justice of the Supreme Court, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the CJN lamented that “the rule of law has been assailed from all fronts in this country, especially by those who are supposed to uphold and guard it jealously. “It is no more news that our judicial officers and even court facilities have been variously attacked, molested, harassed and desecrated across the country.

“The judiciary under my watch will not sit by the sidelines and watch the temple of Justice and ministers of Justice being flagrantly chastised and wiped into silence,” adding that “so many things have gone wrong with the criminal justice chain.” He called for concerted efforts in addressing them.

The judiciary in the last few years have gone under attack, intimidation and harassment starting with the ignoble midnight raid of judges’ homes in Abuja and other parts of the country by the operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) in 2016 over corruption allegations which all crumbled in court.e

Not done yet, in 2019, the then CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen removed from office through unconstitutional method, a move widely observed as taken to intimidate the judiciary before the 2019 elections.

Even in ‘the face of the court’, agents of the executive arm of government repeatedly disregarded court orders for the release of Omoyele Sowore, a pro-democracy activist and Publisher of Sahara Reporters who was detained for calling for a ‘Revolution Now’ nationwide against bad governance in 2019.

On 6 December 2019, armed SSS operatives disrupted a court sitting at the Federal High Court in Abuja in a bid to re-arrest Mr Sowore, a presidential candidate in the 2019 and the 2023 elections, after the court ordered his release from custody.

A apparently embarrassed Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu, abruptly adjourned proceedings for the day as SSS operatives pinned Mr Sowore to the ground. This contempt in the face of the court was widely condemned.

Justice Ariwoola who stressed that judges must not suffer intimidation and heads of courts must be provided with adequate funding from state governors urged the commissioners of justice not to “let us (judiciary) down.”

The CJN lamented that “so many things have gone wrong with the criminal justice chain.” He called for concerted efforts in addressing them.

Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who was present at the conference sought state governments’ collaboration with the federal government in tackling corruption.

According to him, the essence of the conference was to brainstorm on how best states’ chief law officers can partner with the federal government in addressing socio-legal issues in Nigeria.

“There is no doubt that the support of the states is required for effective implementation and to increase the tempo of the war against corruption,” he said.

Mr Malami enumerated other areas of collaboration as “the domestication or review and enforcement of legislations such as the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, Child Rights Act, among others.”

He added that the fight against insecurity should not be left to the central government.

On the theme of the conference, ‘Enhancing Synergy Between the Federal and State Governments in the Administration of Justice in Nigeria,’ Mr. Malami said attorneys-general of states should be guided by the law in the discharge of their duties.

Present at the conference was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).