Lagos — Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, has described the country's judiciary as the best in Africa, just as he said the government will probe the allegation of threat to life of the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Conmission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

Maduekwe, who spoke on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)'s programme, HARDtalk, monitored in Lagos last night, also spoke in defence of the redeployment of Ribadu, explaining that Ribadu is a police officer who had been asked by his "employers to go back to school."

On alleged threat to Ribadu's life and the alarm being raised over his safety , Maduekwe said that the Federal Government had ordered an investigation into the allegation as he stressed that the administration of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was fully committed to the protection of the lives of every citizen and residents of Nigeria.

He said corruption in Nigeria was a major challenge and not endemic as being suggested by BBC reporter, Stephen Sackur, stressing that recent developments in the country's judicial system were indications that the judiciary was not as corrupt as being inferred in some quarters.

The minister also stated that Nigeria did not believe in what he called "gangsterism" in dealing with the Zimbabwean problem, saying the Federal Government respects the sanctity and independence of every sovereign nation. Maduekwe however said that Nigeria would abide by whatever decision the international community takes on the resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis.