Pan Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has lauded the two Nigerian judges who delivered judgments on two cases involving the Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo (aka Sunday Igboho) and his detained aides on Wednesday.

The organisation in a release in Ibadan and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, stated that “the verdicts given by Justices Oladiran Akintola and Obiora Egwaatu, further reinforce our confidence in the judiciary. We call on the officials and government agencies concerned to comply with the court's rulings”.

It would be recalled that Akintola of the State High Court in Ibadan and Obiora Egwaatu of a Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, August 4, 2021, gave rulings in respect of Igboho and his aides, respectively.

The verdict by Akintola granted an ex-parte motion restraining the State Security Services (SSS) and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) from arresting, intimidating, harassing and blocking bank accounts of Igboho

It also restrained the agencies of government from freezing the accounts of the activist, and where this had been done, it must be de-frozen.

In a similar vein, Egwaatu of a Federal High Court, Abuja, granted bails to the 12 aides of Sunday Igboho who were arrested on July 1, when officials of the SSS invaded the Soka residence of the Yoruba nation agitator. Two persons were reportedly killed during the invasion.

Afenifere in the statement saluted the courage of Egwaatu, for granting the bails especially given the fact that the suspects have been in the custody of the DSS for 34 days without being charged to court.

“This is against the expressed provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which, in Section 35(4), stipulates that a suspect be charged to court within 24 hours of arrest", it said. 

The organisation further lauded Egwaatu for insisting that all the detainees be brought to court when the DSS was literally playing hide and seek with their fate. 

“In a saner clime, their initial submission of not knowing where some of the detainees were should earn the officials concerned sanction. They did so all in an attempt to prevent the detainees from getting justice. We salute Egwaatu for standing firm and for eventually granting the detainees bails.”

Ajayi stated further that since it is the Constitution that stipulates the time period of 24 hours within which a suspect must be charged to court after arrest, “any officer or agency of government that contravenes this aspect of the law must be sanctioned severely to serve as deterrence to others. It is the failure to sanction erring officials of government in the past that emboldened others to trample on the fundamental human rights of Nigerians.”