A suit instituted by 12 detained associates of Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, against the Department of State Services and its Director-General, Yusuf Bichi, will come up for hearing on Tuesday, July 20, 2021, (Sallah day) at the Federal High Court, Abuja, one of the counsels for the applicants, Pelumi Olajengbesi, has said.
Olajengbesi made this known in a chat with The PUNCH on Sunday.
However, a source within the court said that judges are avoiding the matter because of its sensitive nature.
The source said, “In fact, two judges initially declined to take up the suit when it was assigned to their courts before it was taken up by Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court 9, Abuja.”
Recall that at least a dozen of Igboho’s associates were arrested and detained by the secret police on July 1 2021 after the DSS’ bloody raid of Igboho’s residence in the Soka area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The secret police also said that it “gunned down” two of the activist’s associates during a “gun duel” which Igboho narrowly escaped. He has later declared wanted for allegedly stockpiling arms, an allegation he denied.
Olajengbesi had earlier told The PUNCH that the secret police refused to grant him and the other lawyers on the case access to the 12 suspects detained by the DSS.
The detained persons, through their lawyers, subsequently sued the secret police and its director-general.
Olajengbesi on Sunday told The PUNCH that though Tuesday and Wednesday had been announced by the Federal Government as holidays to mark the Eid-el-Kabir celebrations, the court insisted that it would hear the case on Tuesday.