After a month-long arrests and incarceration without trial, the Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday bowed to court orders and produced eight out of the 12 aides of Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a Sunday Igboho at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Igboho’s aides had through their lawyer, Mr Pelumi Olajengbesi, had slammed a suit against the DSS and its Director-General, Yusuf Bichi, following their arrest and detention on July 1 during a bloody DSS-coordinated raid of Igboho’s residence in the Soka area of Ibadan, Oyo State.
They are Abdulateef Ofeyagbe, Amoda Babatunde, Tajudeen Erinoyen, Diakola Ademola, Abideen Shittu, Jamiu Noah, and Ayobami Donald.
Others are Adelabe Usman, Oluwapelimi Kunle, Raji Kazeem, Taiwo Opeyemi and Bamidele Sunday.
They were brought before Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who had ordered the DSS to produce the 12 aides of Igboho in court in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/647/2021 to enable the court to inquire into the circumstances surrounding their arrest and detention.
Egwuatu had also said the DSS should show cause why the Igboho’s aides should not be admitted to bails and also berated the DSS for failing to produce them in court as directed.
Persecondnews reports that the trial will commence on resumption of a brief recess by the court following the late arrival of the lawyer to the DSS, Mr I. Awo.
Last Thursday, when the case came up, the DSS’ lawyer had said some of the names on the court order were different from the names of the people they arrested on July 1, 2021 at Igboho’s house.
Awo had also told the court that apart from the second, fourth and twelfth applicants, the identities of the rest of the applicants on the court’s order do not have the persons bearing those names.
According to him, the first applicant on the order has since been “released” on July 27.
Counsel to the applicants, Olajengbesi, had said the failure of the DSS to produce the applicants in court is an apparent affront on the authority of the court and unjustifiable.
