A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday issued a fresh order on the Director General of the Department of State Service, DSS, to produce before it 12 aides of Sunday Adeyemo, a Yoruba separatist also called Sunday Igboho, detained since July 2.
The fresh order followed the failure of the security agency to make them available for bail consideration as ordered on July 23.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu issued the fresh order following an appeal by DSS counsel, Mr Idowu Awo, that the agency be given another time to comply with the order.
When the matter came up, the DSS counsel informed the court that the detained applicants could not be produced in court because of the nature of their arrest and detention.
He argued that he had filed a counter affidavit to explain the dimensions and sophistication of the investigation being carried out on the detainees.
Awo further submitted that the DSS obtained an order of court permitting the detention of the applicants for 14 days to interrogate them.
Besides, the counsel submitted that some names on the federal high court order were at variance with the list of those being detained adding that only 4 out 12 names corresponded with that of DSS.
However, Justice Egwuatu was not persuaded by the arguments, adding that the order of his court was in English language and unambiguous that the detainees be produced in court.
The judge held that the order ought to be obeyed to the letter after which the DSS can subsequently offer explanations for their detention.
He said that the liberty of the Nigerian citizens is at stake and that it is the duty of court to protect it for citizens when called upon to do so as in the instant case.
Awo later apologized to the court and sought an adjournment to enable them comply with the court order.
Justice Egwuatu subsequently fixed Monday August 2 for DSS to produce the detainees in court
The judge ordered DSS to allow counsel to the detainees, Mr Pelumi Olajemgbesi, to access them before the adjourned date.
Olajengbesi had earlier pleaded with the court to sanction DSS for an act of disrespect to lawful court order for the production of the detainees.
He faulted the order paper clamped by DSS for the 14 days detention of the applicants adding that the order was not certified as required by law for public documents.
The counsel argued that it was wrong for the DSS to have detained the applicants for 25 days without charging them to court or granting them administrative bail despite the fact that the supreme law presumed them innocent.
Olajengbesi told them that one, Sunday Adeyemo was the target of the DSS during the raid carried out on July 2 adding that the arrest of the applicants on the day was just an unfortunate event.
Applicants in the matter are Abdulateef Ofeyagbe, Amoda Babatunde, Tajudeen Erinoyen, Diakola Ademola, Abideen Shittu, Jamiu Noah, and Ayobami Donald.
Others are Adelabe Usman, Oluwapelumi Kunle, Raji Kazeem, Taiwo Opeyemi and Bamidele Sunday.
The two respondents in the matter are Director General, DSS, and DSS.
