Alex Enumah in Abuja
Justice Obiora Egwatu of a Federal High Court, Abuja, has ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Nigeria Police Force and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to allow the detained boss of ‘fake’ presidential agency, Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, access to his lawyers.
Justice Egwatu issued the order on Thursday, while ruling in a motion ex-parte filed by Adeyemi’s lawyer, M.B. Abdulazeez.
Adeyemi has been in police custody since July when he was arrested, following an order of court.
Justice Umar Mohammed had ordered for his arrest after he failed to show up in court, and subsequently fixed September 30 for his arraignment.
The Federal Government is prosecuting Adeyemi over his connection to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), an agency said to be non-existent.
However, displeased with his continued detention, Adeyemi filed a fundamental rights suit and brought an ex-parte application pending the hearing and determination of the main suit.
The applicant, in the motion ex-parte, urged the court to order his release from detention as well as permit him to see medical practitioners of his choice over his alleged ill health.
“An order that, for so long as the applicant remains in custody, the respondents … whether by themselves, their officers, servants, agents or privies, or any agency of the Federal Government whatsoever, be restrained from interrogating the applicant or requiring him to make, adopt or sign any statement, save in the presence of a legal practitioner of his own choosing.
“An order that, for so long as the applicant remains in custody, the respondents do permit the applicant unimpeded access to legal practitioners of his own choosing at all reasonable hours.”
Adeyemi’s elder brother, Adeniyi Adebola, who deposed to the affidavit in support of the ex-parte application, claimed that the detainee was unable to attend to the Commissioner for Oaths by reason of his detention.
After hearing from the lawyer and reviewing the processes, Justice Egwatu held that the requests for bail, medical attention, and other reliefs could not be granted without hearing from the respondents.
The judge, however, granted Relief 6, which mandated the AGF and the police to give Adeniyi unfettered access to his lawyers.
The judge also gave the AGF and the police a 72-hour ultimatum to show cause why the other reliefs sought by Adeniyi should not be granted.
The court consequently fixed September 9 for the respondents to show cause.