A Shameless Judge

Comfort Obi

While we were all engrossed in the unending drama of the ailing President, Umaru Yar’Adua, the action, or inaction, of Acting President Goodluck Jonathan, and the appointment and screening of Ministerial nominees, we ignored an incident which has brought shame to the Judiciary. It didn’t make headline news. In deed, I neither read the story anywhere, nor took note of it until the National Judicial Council (NJC), took the first step of distancing itself from the shame. It suspended (Dis) Honourable Justice Idris Habib Shall from office. Here is the shameful story.
Until his suspension, penultimate week, Justice Shall was an Honourable Judge of the Bauchi High Court. But this day, he behaved in a most disgraceful, and dishonourable manner. He threw himself, his reputation, and his high office in the gutter. And rubbed himself in mud. By the time he came out, he was smelling offensively to high heavens. He stripped himself of every respect and honour. At the end of the day, he disgraced himself, his family, and his profession. In the judiciary, he has become an outcast. No self-respecting Judge would desire his company. And, whoever elevated him to the revered position of a Judge, must be reeling in shame. Whatever happened to Shall? Why would a Judge rub himself with tar? For an answer, you need to go to the streets of Bauchi state where Justice Shall did the unprecedented. He got involved in a street fight. And who was his fighting partner? A petitioner, Kasim Danlami.
Now, the story did not tell us what the petioner, Kassim Danlami, wrote that pushed Justice Shall to engage him in a street brawl. But I will assume that he must have written a petition against the Judge. Danlami, who works with the Bauchi State Ministry of Works and Transport was allegedly minding his business, when Justice Shall turned a Mike Tyson, and began to rain blows on him. Initially, a shocked Danlami was taken unawares. But he quickly recovered and responded in like manner. Apparently, Justice Shall was stronger than him. He is a Judge, good salary, well fed. His opponent is a poorly paid civil servant. So, not satisfied with pummeling him, he attempted to force him into his car booth. Luckily for Danlami, he couldn’t. He hadn’t quite learnt how motor park touts do it. But he was adept at removing his wig and gown, and reducing himself to an agbero, a street urchin.
Since the story broke, Justice Shall has made no statement. He has not denied the story. Meaning that he has no defence. Meaning that he is guilty as charged. Meaning that the NJC was not wrong in suspending him. Meaning that, if he could behave like a street urchin, he never was deserving of the high office he was appointed to.
The question is: What pushed Justice Shall into this pit of ignominy? If Danlami lied against him in the petition, being a Judge, he should know how best to handle it. He should know the legal steps to take. He should have sued Danlami for defamation of character, and/or libel. But to take the option of engaging Danlami in a street brawl, that is the limit of contempt for the Judiciary. He reduced himself to a tout-beneath contempt.
Shall’s behavior is condemnable in the strongest terms. He has behaved like a common criminal. In trying to force Danlami into his car booth, he was apprantenly, either trying to kidnap him, or worse. Perhaps, he would have killed Danlami if he had succeeded in forcing him into the booth. He could have, perhaps, left him there to suffocate to death.
Who appointed a man like Shall a High Court Judge? Was it on merit? Did Shall go to school? If so, which school? Did he go through the law school? And how matured and deserving was he before he was appointed a Judge. How can an officer in the temple of Justice be this lawless? How can a Judge of the High Court shamelessly violate, in a most brazen manner, the oath of office and the code of conduct for Judicial Officers? Was something wrong with him? Was he in his normal senses? Or, was he drunk? No matter the provocation, his high office demands that he holds his temper in check. His behaviour has put to question the calibre of men and women whose lot it is to decide the fate of Nigerians in their courts. Many of them are temperamental. If a Judge cannot put his temper in check, if a Judge is, almost, always, emotionally charged, how can anybody trust his/her judgment? Shall’s case may have become public, but it certainly is not an isolated case.
In Osun State in 2009, a Chief Magistrate beat his Police Orderly black and blue. The Orderly ended up in a hospital. And what was his offence? He dared to stop him from beating his wife up? When he was arrested and locked up by the police, his colleagues went to plead for mercy. How could they? And there are some more examples of temperamental Judges who beat their wives and househelps up, and treat their Police Orderlies like nobodies, and atimes, slap them around. What kind of legal training did some of these Judges get before their appointment as Judges? Do their maturity and temperament come into consideration? What about their carriage? A Judge like Shall could one day slap a suspect before him in court.
The NJC did well to suspend him. Such lawlessness from a judicial officer as high as Justice Shall should not be tolerated. A judge should carry himself/herself with dignity in, and/or out of office. A Judge should be a role model. He or she should be seen to be on the side of the law always.
In Justice Shall’s case, the NJC should not stop at suspending him from office. He should be put on trial like a common criminal. The law should not be a respecter of persons, especially, not a respecter of those who should dispense it. If Justice Shall is found guilty as charged, he should not only be dismissed as a Judge, he should be given a punishment commensurate with the shameful offence he committed. Thereafter, citizen Danlami should sue him for assault, and attempted kidnap. His alleged offence is a big shame to the Judiciary. And should neither be tolerated, nor condoned.