Penalty for a Lawless SSS
Pelumi Olajengbesi, the defense counsel to the 12 persons arrested during a State Security Service’ (SSS) raid on the residence of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, has accused the secret police of denying the detainees access to their lawyers.
Mr. Olajengbesi made the allegation while responding to journalists after a court hearing on Monday.
He said the SSS only granted them access to four out of 12 followers of the Yoruba Nation, making their proper documentation before the court impossible.
On Friday, July 30, SSS granted Mr. Olajengbesi access to four out of the 12 agitators following the directive by Justice Obiora Egwuatu on July 29.
The SSS had failed to produce the detainees in court, earning the judge’s criticism as a result.
At the resumed hearing on Monday, eight out of the 12 persons were present at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.
Mr. Olajengbesi said he could not argue why only eight out of 12 were present in court due to errors in their court application.
“We can’t actually engage on that, because we also need to perfect our documents before the court. Some names published by SSS were nicknames and some had errors and we need to clear all the irregularities and be sure that we are proper before the court,” Mr. Olajengbesi explained.
“We were only allowed to see four out of 12 of them and that did not sit well with me,” he added.
The presiding judge, Obiora Egwuatu, granted Mr. Olajengbesi leave to correct the names and amend his processes.
The matter has been adjourned till August 4.