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Lawless Department Of State Services Allows Lawyers Access To Only 4 Of 12 Igboho’s Detained Associates, Claims Other Names Are Wrong

DSS, however, kept back eight persons in custody, claiming that the names it was given were wrong.

A day after failing to produce the 12 persons that were arrested at the residence of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho, before the Federal High Court, in Abuja, the Department of State Services on Friday allowed their lawyers to see only four of them in detention.

This follows an order by a Federal High Court on Thursday that the agitators must be produced.

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SaharaReporters learnt that the DSS, however, kept back eight persons in custody, claiming that the names it was given were wrong.

SaharaReporters gathered that their lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, led another lawyer to the office of the DSS on Friday.

"The DSS invited the lawyer to the 12 Yoruba Nation agitators arrested at Sunday Igboho's house in Ibadan to visit them (the agitators).

"This follows an order by the Federal High Court judge in Abuja this week that they must be produced," a source told SaharaReporters on Friday.

“But they brought three men and the lady among them (Lady K), who has not been allowed a change of clothes since July 1. They claimed the names of the rest were wrong,” the source added.

The court had granted an ex parte application by the detainees and among others, ordered the DSS to produce them on July 29 and to show cause why they should not be granted bail.

At the resumed hearing in the case on Thursday, the secret police failed to produce the applicants but made effort to justify its inability to comply with the court’s order.

The applicants are Abdulateef Ofeyagbe, Amoda Babatunde, Tajudeen Erinoyen, Diakola Ademola, Abideen Shittu, Jamiu Noah, Ayobami Donald, Adelabe Usman, Oluwapelumi Kunle, Raji Kazeem, Taiwo Opeyemi and Bamidele Sunday.

However, Justice Obiora Egwuatu told the DSS that when a court of competent jurisdiction gave an order, such orders were meant to be obeyed.

The agency had on July 1 raided Igboho’s residence in Oyo.

Peter Afunanya, the DSS spokesman, said the security agency recovered illegal arms including seven AK-47 rifles and thousands of ammunition from Igboho’s house.

The agency also paraded the 12 supporters of the activist, alleging that they attacked DSS operatives during the raid.

The supporters were subsequently moved to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) where they had been in detention.

Owing to their detention, the suspects had through their lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, filed an application at the court asking the court to “inquire into the circumstances constituting grounds of their arrest and detention since July 2, 2021, and where it deems fit admit applicants on bail.”

They also asked for an order “mandating and compelling the respondents to produce the applicants before this honourable court and show cause as to why the applicants should not be granted bail in accordance with the provisions of section 32 of Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015”.

Ruling on the application on July 23, Obiora Egwatu, the judge, said there was merit in the application.

Consequently, the judge granted all the orders sought and asked the DSS to produce the applicants in court on July 29 (today) and also show cause on why the court should not admit them to bail conditionally or unconditionally.

However, the secret police failed to produce the detained aides as ordered by the court.

The counsel for the applicants, Olajengbesi, alleged that the DSS had given the applicants new names as there are discrepancies in the spelling of their names.

Justice Egwuatu however held that the order of the court was for the DSS to produce the applicants in court.

He said that order should be obeyed first, before telling the court the circumstances of their arrest.

Justice Obiora reemphasised his order directing the respondent produce the applicants in court on 2nd August.

He also ordered the DSS to grant the applicants access to their counsel.