By: Mercy Peter
An Ijaw Women’s group has called for total restraint in the ongoing fraud trial of Diezani Alison-Madueke in the United Kingdom.
The group called for an end to public prosecution of the former Minister, saying that the court should be allowed to do its work.
Alison-Madueke is currently in the UK, where she is facing trial for bribery and money laundering charges.
She has been under investigation since 2015. Some of the allegations brought against her involves over £100,000 in cash, luxury gifts, and property.
Speaking under the umbrella body of Ijaw Women Advocates for Justice, the group said it is neither defending or condemning any individual but calling for a halt of premature judgment and the need to allow the principle of innocence until the court makes pronouncements.
Briefing journalists in Abuja on Monday, Dr. Timiebi Koripamo-Agary, a former Federal Permanent Secretary stressed the need to observe judicial principle concern the case in court.
Koripamo-Agary noted that public trial of cases usually undermines justice itself.
She therefore called for total restraint on the issue while the judicial Process is still ongoing.
“Let it be clearly stated: We are not here to defend or condemn any individual.
“We are here to defend principle. The ongoing proceedings in the United Kingdom must remain exactly what they are: a judicial Process, not a public spectacle. We reject the growing tendency to trial individuals in the court of public opinion while legal processes are still underway.
“That path undermines justice itself. Every individual, regardless of position, past office, or public perception, is entitled to: A fair hearing, Due process, the presumption of innocence.
“These are not privileges. They are rights”,she added.
She pointed out that the ljaw Women stand in solidarity; “not to shield wrongdoing, but to insist that justice must be done properly, lawfully, and without prejudice. “We caution against media sensationalism, selective, narratives, and the weaponisation of public opinion. Justice must not be shaped by headlines.”
She reiterated that “Justice is a process. Let the courts do their work. Let evidence speak where it belongs. And let no individual be condemned before judgment, nor absolved outside the law.”
