IGBOHO’S TRIAL: BENIN REP. COURT DENIES IGBOHO’S BAIL, GRANT MEDICAL CARE INSTEAD.

On July 19, The Yoruba Nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as SundayIgboho and his wife were arrested at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou in the evening as they wanted to catch a flight to Germany through an Air France plane. But the court, last Thursday, ordered the release of his wife but returned Igboho to police cell.

Igboho was earlier declared wanted by the Department of State Services in Nigeria for allegedly stockpiling arms, an allegation he denied.

The secret police on July 1, 2021, had raided his house, killed two of his associates and arrested about 12 of them.

The Court De’appal De Cotonou, Benin Republic, on Monday, granted the Yoruba Nation activist Sunday Adeyemo popularly called Sunday Igboho access to medical care rather than bail which his lawyers have been working so hard to secure.

However, speaking with an authentic source after the court sitting, a member of Igboho’s legal team, Pelumi Olajengbesi, expressed confidence that his client would be released.

Igboho’s lawyers battled to secure bail for the activist but the court only granted him access to medical care after the marathon sessions which ended around past 11pm (Nigerian time). The court also ordered that Igboho be transferred to another detention facility.

The court sessions started at noon, but there were intermittent breaks during the hearing and it lasted eight hours.

It was gathered that the court proceeding took that long because the system of law in Benin Republic was different from the system of law in Nigeria.

Nigeria normally practises an adversarial system of justice but Benin Republic has an inquisitorial system, a justice system in which the judge delves into the matter to enquire like the investigator, asking questions and probing the suspects.

It was also gathered that at least six lawyers represented the Federal Government of Nigeria in court on Monday. The legal representatives were a combination of local and international lawyers as well as French-speaking and English-speaking lawyers.