The Department of State Service has released eight of the 12 detained aides of Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho.
The release of the eight aides came on the heels of the 48-hours ultimatum which the lawyer to the aides, Pelumi Olajengbesi, gave the DSS on Friday.
Olajengbesi told journalists during a press conference in Abuja on Monday that four of the aides had yet to be released.
He attributed the failure to release the other four aides to technical issues which “will be resolved soon.”
The lawyer said, “Today, they have been able to release eight persons among the 12. We are hoping that they will release the remaining four tomorrow (Tuesday) or before the end of the week.
“Ordinarily, they should have released every single person detained as ordered by the court, but we have some technical legal issues that we think should be easily resolved and of course, we agreed with them.”
Olajengbesi said he would not pre-empt that the DSS was trying to manipulate or deviate from what the law said or what the court ordered.
“The beauty of what has happened now is to show that in every circumstance the law must prevail,” he added.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that the DSS had arrested 12 Igboho’s aides from his home in Ibadan on July 1.
DSS alleges miscarriage of justice, asks Appeal Court to reverse Igboho aides’ bail
Following their continued detention, their lawyer had filed an application praying the court to grant them bail.
The DSS’ lawyer, I. Awo, opposed the bail of other four of the aides on the ground that the DSS was still investigating them.
However, Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court had granted bail to all the 12 detainees.
Seeking to further detain the four aides, the DSS had filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal challenging the bail granted to the four aides.
When the lawyer to the detained aides was asked during the press conference if the eight persons released were the ones whose bail were not opposed by DSS. He replied that the released persons consisted of six persons from the initial eight and two persons from the other four whose bail were opposed.
Copyright PUNCH.
