There was drama on Tuesday as men of the department of state services (DSS) invaded a state high court sitting in Ilaro, Ogun state and arrested two defendants despite the judge’s warning.
The defendants, who were simply identified as Isiaka Fatai and Samuel Oyero, were on trial in a suit between the state vs Awode Oladosu & 13 others.
The case was reported to be a result of a crisis that recently broke out in the Agosasa community in the Ipokia local government area of the state over a tussle about the community’s chieftaincy resulting in the destruction of property reportedly worth billions of naira and loss of life.
Meanwhile, when the hearing was ongoing, operatives of the DSS stormed the court premises and took away the suspects.
Confirming the incident, counsel to Isiaka, Kehinde Bamiwola, in a statement, alleged that men of the DSS molested his client. “Alhaji Isiaka Fatai was beaten, slapped, man-handled, rough-handled and molested,” he said.
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.
“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.
“It was from the source that we heard they were DSS agents. If anybody sees them, one would think they were armed robbers.
Olusanya further said that their appearance was far from being identified as DSS agents, adding, “They did not wear anything that identified them as DSS, but they came to my lord this morning and said they had some people to arrest. That was when we knew they were DSS officers.
“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.
“They could stay outside and do whatever they wanted, but they refused that advice and carried out the arrest within the premises,” he said.
However, when contacted, the spokesman for the DSS, Peter Afunanya, did not answer calls or reply to text messages sent as of the time of filing this report.
