••Calls for AGF To Vet All Criminal probes before trial
Legal practitioner, Abu Arome, has accused a suspected “notorious land predator” of orchestrating a pattern of systemic manipulation and using government institutions as tools of intimidation to unlawfully seize property belonging to his non-Nigerian clients. In a statement titled “My Odyssey: Battling Land Grabbers in the Pursuit of Justice,” Arome said the conflict began in September 2024, when his clients filed a court action over alleged unlawful encroachment.
He lamented: “For over 13 years, no one ever accused my clients of forgery. That changed immediately after they dared to protect what was lawfully theirs,” adding that he too had been dragged into the matter over “events allegedly committed in 2009 and 2013, years during which I was still a university student.”
Arome described the ordeal as evidence of “a deeper, more systemic rot,” saying: “I have seen how society, our media, our public institutions, and even many of our colleagues accept these injustices without scrutiny,” while “the press, hungry for scandal and funded by the highest bidder, publishes unverified allegations as if they were proven facts.” He urged reforms, insisting: “The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) should, by law, be required to review all criminal investigations before any trial is initiated,” and warned that “our justice system cannot be great if the innocent must suffer to prove their innocence, or if lawyers are punished for standing on the side of truth.”
He asserted that “The fight for justice, in this case, is no longer just about land. It is about the soul of our legal system. May truth prevail and may Nigeria be great again.”
