'This is the time to say no to illegality'- Governor Nyesom Wike

 In the early hour  of today, October 8, 2016, there was a failed attempt by the Department of State Service (DSS) to illegally arrest a Federal High Court judge residing at 35 Force Avenue  in Port Harcourt.The security operatives who were led by Mr Tosin Ajayi, Rivers State Director of the Department of State Services (DSS) and Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mr Francis Odesanya, blocked the entrance of the residence of the Federal High Court judge at about 1AM on saturday morning, claiming that they were acting on orders from above. It was gathered that the State Governor, Nyesom Wike arrived the scene just in time before the illegal abduction could be carried out to prevent the arrest. He was roughly manhandled by the operative and injured his hand. Governor Wike insisted that whatever the situation, the rule of law must prevail in a democratic setting.

He said if the security agencies had a lawful directive to implement, they must follow due process.

Governor Wike at the scene of the incident in the early hour of Saturday

 In a state released later in the day, the Department of State Services (DSS) says it raided the homes of some judges across the country over allegations of corruption levelled against them. Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Garba Abdullahi, an agent of the service, said the secret police had been monitoring the lifestyle of some judges, and that it was determined to bring sanity to the judiciary.

The DSS, in the past few days, has embarked on a series of special sting operations involving some judges of the supreme, appeal and high courts, These operations were based on allegations of corruption and other acts of professional misconduct by a few suspected judges. The service is in line with its core mandate, as we have been monitoring the expensive and luxurious lifestyle of some of the judges as well as complaints from the concerned public over judgment obtained fraudulently and on the basis amounts of money paid.The judges involved were invited, upon which due diligence was exhibited and their premises searched. The searches have uncovered huge raw cash of various denominations, local and foreign currencies with real estate worth several millions of naira and documents affirming unholy acts by these judges.  Meanwhile, some of them have made useful statements while a few have‎ declined even with the glaring evidences that were found against them in terms of material cash, documents and property recovered pointing to their compromise. In one of the states where the service operations were conducted, credible intelligence revealed that the judge had $2m stashed in his house.
When he was approached for due search to be conducted, he, in concert with the state governor, mobilised thugs against the service team. The team restrained itself in the face of unbridled provocative activities by those brought in by the governor. Unfortunately, the judge and the governor also engaged the tacit support of a sister security agency. The service surveillance team noticed that upon frustrating the operation, the judge, with the active support of the governor craftily moved the money to an unknown location, which the service is currently making effort to unravel.

However, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has declared that he is ready to sacrifice his life in order to protect the state from external predators. Speaking during the flag off of the construction of the Abua-Emoh-Egbolom road in Abua/Odual Local Government Area on Saturday, Governor Wike said:

"This is the time to say no to illegality. If they are testing the waters for rigging and mayhem, it will not work"."I told the security operatives who planned to abduct the judge that instead of this impunity, you better take my life. I will always protect the interest of this state.

"When God gives you an assignment, he will give you the enablement to complete the assignment. Rivers people must be ready to fight any form of injustice. I am ready to defend Rivers State with my life".