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Men of the Department of State Services (DSS) have invaded an Ogun State High Court sitting at Ilaro when hearing was ongoing and arrested two defendants.
The court was presided over by Justice AA Shobayo.
The defendants, who were simply identified as Alhaji Isiaka Fatai, and Samuel Oyero, were tried in a suit marked HCP/IC/2023 between the State vs Awode Oladosu & 13 others.
The case was reported to be as a result of a crisis that recently broke out in the Agosasa community in the Ipokia Local Government Area of the state over an Obaship tussle which led to the destruction of property worth billions of naira and loss of lives.
Meanwhile, when the hearing was ongoing, operatives of the DSS stormed the court premises and took away the suspects.
Confirming the incident to Daily Trust, Counsel to Alhaji Isiaka, Kehinde Bamiwola, in a statement, alleged that men of the DSS operatives used weapons on the two, stressing that “Alhaji Isiaka Fatai was beaten, slapped, man-handled, rough-handled and molested.”
Corroborating Bamiwola’s claim, the Principal Registrar of the High Court and Sectional Head of High Court, Ilaro, Omololu Olusanya, confirmed the incident, describing it as shocking and disrespectful to the rule of law.
He stressed that even after the judge had ordered the operatives not to make any arrest within the court premises, they still proceeded to arrest the two persons.
“They still went ahead and did the act to the extent that they assaulted one of our staff members, Mrs Fadina while doing that act. It’s a very sad issue that caused a lot of noise within the court premises.”
“They approached the judge before the court session began. The honourable judge advised them that if they wanted to make an arrest, it must not be done within the court premises.
However, when contacted, the spokesman of the DSS, Peter Afunanya, did not answer calls as at press time.
