September 03, (THEWILL) – Following the failure of the Department of State Security (DSS) to comply with the order of the Federal High Court in Abuja to set free all the associates of the Yoruba nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemi, popularly called “Sunday Igboho,” their lawyer has threatened to drag the intelligence agency’s boss, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, to court on contempt proceedings.
Protesting the Friday release of only Tajudeen Irinloye and Uthman Opeyemi Adelabu, Barrister Pelumi Olajengbesi said the DSS still had custody of two of the original 12 detainees, Amudat Habibat Babatunde and Jamiu Noah Oyetunji.
Those still being held include the only woman in the group, Amudat Habibat Babatunde.
Olajengbesi warned: “If by Monday the 6th of September, 2021, the DSS continue with their unlawful detention of the remaining two detainees, we shall not hesitate to proceed with our earlier plans to institute a contempt proceeding against the Director-General of the SSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi.”
Initially protesting the court’s order of August 4, DSS later released eight of the 12 on August 30, and on Friday September 3 released two more.
The latest release leaves a balance of two Igboho aides still in DSS custody, despite the court’s order a month ago to release on bail all the 12 detainees, held after the agency’s July 1 midnight raiding of the Yoruba Nation agitator’s home in Ibadan, Oyo State.
DSS killed two residents in that midnight raid that it said was to harvest from Igboho’s home stockpiled illegal arms.
Sunday Igboho has since denied the charge.
In a statement he released to reporters from Abuja on Friday, the lawyer warned that he would be heading to court to charge the DSS Director-General with contempt of court.
Titled, “DSS Selective Obedience To Court Order; An Affront To And Disregard Of The Authority Of The Court,” Olajengbesi’s statement read: “The keenly observing world will recall that during our last press briefing on the on-going case of Chief Sunday Igboho’s aides, it was reported that the DSS is yet to release four of detainees on their custody on grounds of bail perfection technicality, in which we were allowed to secure the release of others.
“The DSS’ cherry-picking of an order of court is an open dare and affront on the authority of the issuing court and it lacks legal backing under the extant laws of Nigeria. It is a condemnable action in any sane democratic society and speaks ill of the professionalism of the intelligence agency.
“The DSS simply has no right nor power to select or unilaterally handpick which order of court is convenient for it to obey or honor. Any iota of non-compliance to an order of court is tantamount to disregard of such an order in its entirety and same is contemptuous.
“Consequently, we want to restate that if by Monday the 6th of September, 2021, the DSS continue with their unlawful detention of the remaining two detainees, we shall not hesitate to proceed with our earlier plans to institute a contempt proceeding against the Director-General of the SSS, Yusuf Magaji Bichi.
“The DSS as a law enforcement agency should not be allowed to carry out its official responsibility with impunity and absolute disrespect to the law of the land especially where the constitutional rights and liberty of citizens are at stake. It is a reprehensible conduct unbecoming of an agency which is itself a creation of the law and it will not go unchallenged.”
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