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BREAKING Court Grants Bail To 12 Detained Igboho's Aides After 34 Days In Custody

At the resumed hearing of the case, Olajengbesi prayed the court to admit his clients to bail unconditionally.

 

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted bail to the 12 associates of Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, who were detained by the Department of State Service following their arrest on July 1, 2021. 

 

Four of the agitators were granted bail with the sum of N10million each and two sureties in like sum who must have a verifiable means of identification while the remaining eight were granted bail with the sum of N5million each with one surety each whom must be a civil servant.

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The sureties must be residents of Abuja.

 

Justice Obiora Egwaatu while ruling on the enforcement of fundamental rights suit filed by their lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, held that since there was no charge brought against the applicants who had been detained for 34 days.

 

At the resumed hearing of the case, Olajengbesi prayed the court to admit his clients to bail unconditionally.

 

Olajengbesi made the plea following the production of the 12 detainees before Justice Obiora Egwuatu on Wednesday.

 

SaharaReporters had reported that the applicants who had been in the detention of the Department of State Service (DSS) since July 2, had approached the court through their lawyer to seek for the enforcement of their fundamental rights.

 

Olajengbesi had told the court that contrary to the Section 35(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which stipulated that a suspect be charged to court within 24 hours, the DSS had kept the applicants for about 34 days in detention.

 

He said that it took the order of the court for the respondent (DSS) to allow even the legal representatives of these applicants to have access to them. 

 

He said the experience of the applicants in the facility of the respondent was "a bad taste."

 

According to him, that the applicants were arrested for certain offences, after 34 days in the respondent detention, the applicants should have been charged to court.

 

He argued that to continue to keep the applicants in the custody of the service would amount to an affront on the constitution and infringement on their fundamental human rights as provided by the law.

However, lawyer to the DSS, I. Awo opposed the application for bail for four of the applicants in custody saying that the service had not concluded their investigation.

The applicants include; Amudat Habibat Babatunde, Abideen Shittu, Jamiu Noah Oyetunji and Bamidele Sunday listed as 2nd, 5th, 6th and 12th applicants in the application.

Meanwhile he did not oppose the application for bail for eight others which include; Abdullateef Ademola Onaolapo, Tajudeen Irinloye, Diekola Jubril Ademola, Ayobami Donald, Uthman Opeyemi Adelabu, Olakunle Oluwapelumi, Raji Kazeem and Taiwo Opeyemi Tajudeen who are 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th applicants respectively.

On July 1, DSS operatives stormed Igboho's residence of Yoruba secession agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho at Soka, Ibadan around 1 am, killing two of his associates and arresting about 13 persons.

Igboho, who escaped the raid, had gone into hiding as the secret police declared him wanted before he was later arrested at Benin Republic where he is standing trial.

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Legal