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The Chief Justice
of Nigeria (CJN), Aloysius Katsina-Alu, has ordered an Abuja High Court
judge, Othman Musa, to explain why he evicted the legal resident of an
Abuja house during a custody dispute. Mr. Musa has two weeks to explain
why he should not be sacked for his decision.

The Justice was
acting on a dispute between Mr Eyiboh and Hassan Muhammed Gusau, a
senator from Zamfara State. The two have been locked in a contentious
legal battle since 2008 over the land on which Mr. Eyiboh erected his
house.

On May 28, Justice
Musa granted an ex-pate motion evicting Eseme Eyiboh, a House of
Representatives member from Akwa Ibom State, from his private residence
in Area 11, Garki. Mr. Gusau had a writ of possession from a Sharia
court in Jigawa State and a letter from an Abuja Upper Area Court
judge, directing the police to aid the enforcement of the eviction.

On June 3, a team
of officers, led by a bailiff and Mr. Gusau’s relatives, arrived at the
house early in the morning and threw out Mr Eyiboh’s belongings. The
representative said that it took the intervention of his lawyers to
dissuade the team from carrying out the eviction.

The lawyers
questioned why Justice Musa had approved such an action when Mr. Eyiboh
had not been joined in the Jigawa suit, nor was his name mentioned in
the Abuja court order.

On June 30, the
judge reversed his order, saying that it was given in error. He ordered
Mr. Eyiboh to take back possession of the home.

However, not satisfied with the new order, Mr Eyiboh petitioned the
CJN, who is also the chairman of the National Judicial Council. “I
believe sincerely that Musa colluded with my adversary, Hassan Muhammed
Gusau, to forcefully evict me from my property and hand over possession
to the said Gusau,” said Mr. Eyiboh, in the petition.