The 12 arrested and detained associates of Yoruba nation activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, by the Department of State Services (DSS) since July 1, 2021 have secured a major reprieve from the courts.
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday granted bails in the sum of N5 million.
In a ruling, Justice Obiora Egwuatu granted the eight applicants whose requests were not opposed by the DSS the bails.
Persecondnews reports that the judge also admitted the four others to a bail in the sum of N10 million each with two sureties in similar amount.
The applicants the DSS did not oppose their bail applications include Abdullateef Ademola Onaolapo, Tajudeen Irinloye, Diekola Jubril Ademola, Ayobami Donald, Uthman Opeyemi Adelabu, Olakunle Oluwapelumi, Raji Kazeem and Taiwo Opeyemi Tajudeen identified as 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th applicants respectively.
The DSS, however, opposed the bail applications of the following: Amudat Habibat Babatunde, Abideen Shittu, Jamiu Noah Oyetunji and Bamidele Sunday 2nd, 5th, 6th and 12th applicants.
Earlier, Counsel to the applicants, Mr Pelumi Olajengbesi, had urged the court to grant them bails unconditionally.
The applicants, who were arrested at the Ibadan home of Igboho during a DSS-coordinated bloody raid on July 1, had approached the court through their lawyer 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 told the court that the experiences of the applicants in the DSS detention was a bad taste and harrowing.
Counsel to the DSS, Mr Idowu Awo, had opposed the bail applications for four of the applicants, citing their level of involvement in the offences preferred against them.
“As it is, the respondent is still investigating this matter and while will we not oppose bail to those applicants earlier mentioned, we seriously believe that it is not in the interest of justice and it will not serve the purpose of national security for these four applicants to be granted bail.
“We believe strongly that these four applicants who are still needed for further investigation will jeopardize the ongoing investigation if released,” the DSS lawyer told the court.
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