Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services, DSS, has asked the court not to grant bail to four out of the 12 aides of Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, who have been in detention since 1 July,
Counsel to the DSS, I. Awo, opposed the application for bail for four of the applicants in custody after the lawyer to the detainees prayed a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja to admit his clients to bail unconditionally on Wednesday.
Olajengbesi made the plea following the production of the 12 detainees before Justice Obiora Egwuatu on Wednesday.
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Olajengbesi 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.
However through he did not oppose the application for bail for eight others, the lawyer to the DSS asked the court to allow the secret police to continue to keep four of them in custody.
The lawyer said while the service did not oppose bail for 1st, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th applicants, the security outfit strongly objected to granting bail to 2nd, 12th, 6th and 5th applicants.
He argued that this was due to the level of their involvement in the offence preferred against them.
Newsmen report 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 their fundamental rights enforcement.
Justice Egwuatu then stood down the matter for ruling.
The court had last Thursday, issued a fresh order on the Director-General of the DSS to produce before it 12 detained aides of the alleged Yoruba secessionist leader, Sunday Igboho
The fresh order followed the refusal of the security agency to make them available for bail consideration as ordered by the court on July 23, 2021.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu issued the fresh order following an appeal by DSS counsel, Idowu Awo, that the agency is given another time to comply with the order.
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, while the two respondents in the matter are DG, DSS and the DSS.
