The Department of State Service, DSS, has revealed how it conducted the investigations that led to the trial of a Federal High Court judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola.
An official of the DSS, who is also a witness in the trial of the Justice, Babatunde Adepoju, explained how the investigations were carried out before charges were drawn against the defendants.
Recall that Justice Ademola of the Federal High Court, his wife, Olubowale, who is the immediate past Head of Service of Lagos State, and Joe Agi, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria are on trial for various allegations bordering on diversion of justice, unauthorized possession of arms and bribery.
Adepoju, who led the investigations into the alleged offenses committed by the defendants, told the court that he was assigned to the case after a search warrant was executed at the residence of the defendant in October.
He explained that he was assigned to investigate the matter following the recoveries made during the search at the residence of the defendants, and other allegations, including those contained in a petition written against Ademola.
Adepoju said, “There was also the allegation that the judge used his position as an FHC judge and his close ties with Senator Ahmed Tinubu to influence the appointment of his wife as head of service, Lagos State.
“My duty was also to conduct follow-up investigations as regards the monetary recoveries in Justice Ademola’s apartment.
He, however, added that justice Ademola denied influencing his wife’s appointment, adding that the judge explained that his wife was the most senior Permanent Secretary in Lagos State at the time of her appointment.
Adepoju also explained that the recoveries made from Ademola’s residence included local and foreign currencies in hundreds of thousands, as well as two firearms belonging to Ademola and another judge, A.R. Mohammed.
He said the DSS also employed a ballistician who checked the rifles found at the residence of Ademola during the search in October.
Adepoju said that after checking the firearms, the guns were of the category of prohibited ammunition which could only be licensed at the discretion of the President of the country.
He added that although Ademola had confirmed that the guns, which had two different licenses, (one for himself and the other for Mohammed), belonged to the two judges, Mohammed denied ownership of the rifle.
The DSS operative further said there were also allegations of bribery against the first defendant, which according to his principal, influenced the order by the defendant for the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, and former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki.
Adepoju also told the court that of particular reference in his investigation was a set of payments made in three tranches to the account of Mrs. Ademola shortly before certain court orders were made by Ademola, in a case involving a client of Agi.
He added, “In my further investigation on the connection between Mrs. Ademola and Agi, I tried to establish if Barr. Agi had cases pending or concluded before Justice Ademola, and I discovered that they actually had cases in court.
“Two among the cases that raised eyebrows were of AMCON vs. FRN and Friday Upkong vs. Chief of Naval Staff. These two cases involved huge sums of money.
“Both cases emanated from Calabar, Cross-River State, Justice Ademola’s previous posting. In the AMCON case, three garnishee orders were granted by Justice Ademola in favor of Joe Agi’s client, which is Linas International Limited.”
Adepoju explained how the DSS arrived at the allegation that Agi had paid N30 million into the account of Ademola to influence a judgment.
According to him, the money was paid by two maritime businessmen, Ken Hubert and Bassey Bassey.
He said the men paid the sum of $150, 000 which was later converted to naira by Agi to the tune of N37 million.
The witness said, “According to Joe Agi, the conversion rate was N37 million, but he remitted N30 million to Ms. Olubowale’s account.”
However, when cross-examined, Adepoju said the allegations of influencing the appointment of Mrs. Ademola, made against her husband was a verbal brief given to him by his superior; adding that as an investigative officer, he had the discretion to either accept the brief or refuse it, based on evidence at his disposal.
Adepoju also said he did not charge Ademola based on the allegations contained in the cited petition against him due to the insufficiency of evidence.
He said, “I am trained to go through any fact-finding quest with an objective mind. These are mere allegations subject to be confirmed or refuted, based on supporting documents.”
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