Aliyu M Aliyu
A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, admitted the 12 detained associates of Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, to bail.
The eight applicants whose requests were not opposed by the Department of State Services (DSS) were granted bail in the sum of N5 million by Justice Obiora Egwuatu, who also admitted the four others to bail in the sum of N10 million each with two sureties in the same sum.
Abdullateef Ademola Onaolapo, Tajudeen Irinloye, Diekola Jubril Ademola, Ayobami Donald, Uthman Opeyemi Adelabu, Olakunle Oluwapelumi, Raji Kazeem, and Taiwo Opeyemi Tajudeen are the first, third, fourth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh applicants, according to the NAN
However, the service urged the court to deny bail to Amudat Habibat Babatunde, Abideen Shittu, Jamiu Noah Oyetunji, and Bamidele Sunday, who were listed as the 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 12th applicants in the application, respectively.
Pelumi Olajengbesi, counsel for the applicants, had previously urged the court to grant his clients unconditional bail.
Following the presentation of the 12 detainees before Justice Obiora Egwuatu on Wednesday, Olajengbesi made the plea.
According to NAN, the applicants had approached the court through their lawyer to seek the enforcement of their fundamental rights after being detained by the DSS since July 2. .
The DSS had detained the applicants for about 34 days, according to Olajengbesi, in violation of Section 35(4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which stipulated that a suspect be charged to court within 24 hours.
He claimed that it took a court order for the respondent (DSS) to allow even the applicants’ legal representatives access to them.
.He described the applicants’ experience at the respondent’s facility as “a bad taste.”
He claimed that the applicants were arrested for certain offenses and that they should have been charged in court after 34 days in respondent detention.
He argued that keeping the applicants in the DSS custody would be an affront to the constitution and a violation of their constitutionally protected fundamental human rights.
Although DSS Counsel I. Awo opposed the application for bail for four of the applicants in custody, he did not oppose the application for bail for the remaining eight.
He argued that this was due to the level of their involvement in the offenses preferred against them.
He hinted that investigation so far had revealed a high level of complicity on the part of the four detainees whose bail was opposed to by the service.
“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,” Awo said.
The service feared that if they were granted bail, they would not make themselves available for further investigation and possible prosecution, according to the lawyer.
He added that the law stipulated grounds for detaining a suspect for more than 24 hours.
Section 162 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) of 2015, he claims, spells out the conditions or circumstances under which bail can be denied.
According to Awo, paragraph C of the same section provided that bail could be refused if the bail applicant attempted to intimidate witnesses or interfere with an investigation.
He claimed there was credible information about how the four applicants’ friends, families, and associates were contacting potential witnesses at the service.
“They’ve started making an overture to them in an attempt to sabotage the investigation by pressuring some of them not to show up in case they (the four applicants) are charged. He stated there was credible information about how the four applicants’ friends, families, and associates were making contact with the service’s potential witnesses.
“They’ve started making an overture to them in an attempt to sabotage the investigation by pressuring some of them not to show up in case they (the four applicants) are charged.