The Department of State Service (DSS) on Monday bowed to the release warrants issued by a Federal High Court in Abuja and released eight out of the 12 associates of Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, detained by the agency since July 1.
Announcing the release of the eight detainees in Abuja, Pelumi Olajengbesi, counsel to the aides of the Yoruba nation agitator, said out of the eight detainees that the DSS did not oppose the application for their bail, six were released and two out of the four, which the security agency opposed to their bail application, were released on Monday.
He expressed the hope that the remaining four of the detainees would be released within the week after resolving some technical issues regarding to their release.
Olajengbesi lamented that the DSS could not come up with any charge against the detainees after 60 days of detention and added that the DSS could longer arrest any of the released detainees as they have not committed any offence to warrant such.
As for the remaining four still in the custody of the DSS, Olajengbesi said: “We will go to DSS to ask for their release and if they refuse, we will not hesitate to carry our earlier threat.
“We will not relent in ensuring that the remaining four of the detainees are released by the DSS, because justice for one is justice for all,” he said.
It would be recalled that the warrants for the release of the detainees was signed by Justice Obiora Egwuatu last week Monday after they had perfected the bail granted them by his court.
However, the DSS failed to release them last week as the Director General of the agency, Yusuf Bichi, was said to have allegedly blocked lawyers from giving effect to the release warrants since Monday when they were served on him
Apparently angry by the development, Olajengbesi threatened to commence contempt proceedings against the Director General of the DSS for the agency’s alleged failure to comply with an order of court for the release of his clients.
The 12 associates of Igboho were arrested during the July 1, 2021 raid on Igboho’s Ibadan home by a combined team of men of the DSS and the Nigerian military, and have been in detention.
