The 12 persons arrested by the Department of State Services during the July 2 midnight raid on the Ibadan home of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, have demanded to be taken before the Federal High Court in Abuja and be granted bail.
The detainees, who have spent a week in the custody of the DSS, made the demand in a suit filed on their behalf by their lawyer, Chief Yomi Alliyu (SAN), on Friday.
Alliyu, in the suit, contended that his clients’ continued detention without being taken to court breached the provisions of the law stipulating that suspects should be taken to court within 24 hours of their arrest.
Listed as the plaintiffs in the suit are Abdullateef Ofeyagbe, Amoda Babatunde (alias Lady K), Tajudeen Erinoyen, Diekola Ademola, Abideen Shittu, Jamiu Noah, Ayobami Donald, Adelabe Usman, Oluwapelumi Kunle, Raji Kazeem, Taiwo Opeyemi and Bamidele Sunday.
The defendants are the Department of State Services (aka DSS) and its Director-General.
The detainees, through Alliyu, are praying the court for a court order “mandating and compelling the defendants to produce the applicants to enable this honourable court to inquire into the circumstances constituting grounds of their arrest and detention since July 2, 2021 and where it deems fit admit the applicants to bail.”
They want the court to order the DSS to explain why they should not be admitted to bail “in accordance with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and other extant laws in Nigeria.”
The DSS had said it arrested 13 persons and killed two in the raid on Ighobo’s house.
It also declared wanted Igboho, who escaped during the raid.
The DSS alleged that Igboho was in illegal possession of firearms but the Yoruba Nation agitator, who has gone underground, said the firearms claimed to have been recovered from his house were planted by the DSS to implicate him.
No date has been fixed to hearing of the case.
Meanwhile, the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, on Friday pleaded with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), to slow down security on the trail of Igboho.
The monarch in a letter addressed to Buhari, a copy of which was obtained by Saturday PUNCH also promised to take Igboho to the President for peace talks, saying the activist would henceforth slow down his agitation for an independent Yoruba nation.
Labelling Igboho as an activist who derives joy in liberating the oppressed, Oluwo said though the activist’s strategy to achieve an independent Yoruba Nation was not known to him, he usually called him to order whenever he had information about his move.
Oba Akanbi said rather than taking advice, Igboho usually resorted to insulting stakeholders like him, but said as a “father,” he had forgiven the activist.
The letter read in parts, “Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, earned his popularity as an activist whose joy is to liberate the cheated. He started as such and grew with it. His strategy is not known to me because I’m not in his camp. Whenever I have information about his move, I call him to order.
“He visited my palace sometime in 2018. I give pieces of advice when sought. Instead of Igboho to distinctively differentiate between agitation towards government and inter-group activism, he failed. At a point, he abused stakeholders with spurious allegations.
“I was the first in the list for drumming support for one Nigeria. As a father, I’ve personally forgiven him. And I’m personally beseeching Your Excellency as the number one citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to demonstrate your magnanimity by forgiving our promising son, Chief Sunday Igboho.
“He is a novice in handling issues against the government. He is a gift to us in Yoruba. He has pledged his readiness to listen to us. I appeal to Your Excellency to slow down security trail on Sunday Igboho.
“I have the assurance that adhering (sic) to this piece will go a long way in strengthening the unity of Nigeria. I promise Your Excellency that Igboho will mind his steps henceforth. He has suffered a lot. He would step down agitations. I will bring him for peace talks at the appropriate time.”
Copyright PUNCH.
