THERE IS PALPABLE fear that something untoward may have happened to Olabode Owoeye who was allegedly arrested to implicate a Federal Lawmaker by the Anti-kidnapping Unit of the State CID, Osogbo.
Information made available to The Telescope Nigeria revealed that Olabode Owoeye had been detained for murder related offences since March 31, 2024. And he has been whisked out of Osun in a manner that could be likened to kidnapping by the Officer in Charge of Anti-kidnapping Unit of the State CID, Osogbo
His Counsel who wondered where a suspect whose offences are known to the police could still be detained without arraigning him before a court of competent jurisdiction, had to approach the High Court, Ilesa Division in SUIT NO HIL/M.20/2024: OLABODE OWOEYE VS COMMISSIONER OF POLICE and by an application for an interim injunction moved and granted on June 24, 2024, the High Court, Ilesa ordered the Commissioner of Police to release the suspect (Applicant) and the matter was adjourned to July 4, 2024.
On July 4, 2024, the O’C Legal of the State CID, applied to the court for the adjournment of the matter and all the dates suggested fell on the court’s vacation. The court therefore transferred the case back to the Registry for the Vacation Judge to handle same as the right of a Nigerian Citizen was at stake.
It needs to be stated here that the order of the court for the release of Olabode Owoeye and the subsequent order that he should be produced in court served on the Commissioner of Police were not obeyed by the Commissioner of Police, Osun State and the O’C Anti-Kidnapping, Moses. Instead, a police officer allegedly phoned Olabode Owoeye’s mother making jest of her that she should not have gone to Court but that she should arrange for the payment of N5,000,000 to the O’C Anti-Kidnapping, Moses if she wanted her son to be released.
Shortly after the Court’s orders were disobeyed, the Commissioner of Police ordered that the suspect be paraded. Information reaching us was that for failure of Olabode Owoeye to publicly indict a Legislator of the Federal House of Representatives, the O’C Anti-Kidnapping beat the hell out of him on the night of the parade to the extent of rushing him to the hospital by said Moses who stood by him all night, begging the doctors to give him adequate attention to save his life.
On July 17, 2024 that the matter came up before the High Court, Ijebu-Jesa, the court reiterated the orders made by the High Court, Ilesa for the release or production of the Applicant and the case was adjourned to 24th of July, 2024. Because the Hearing Notice and the orders were not served on the Commissioner of Police on time, the matter was adjourned to 29th of July, 2024 where the court heard the substantive application for the enforcement of the Applicant’s right with the award of #10,000,000 against the Commissioner of Police, Osun State.
Despite the subsisting order of Court, the Commissioner refused to release the suspect, only for the O’C Anti-Kidnapping to be demanding for two sureties for him to release the suspect. The family of the suspect produced the sureties, yet O’C Anti-Kidnapping refused to release the suspect, telling those that went there that he would only release him if they could give him N20,000,000.
According to people who have knowledge of the case, “Here is a case of a Commissioner of Police and his O’C Anti-Kidnapping demonstrating their powers above that of the Court”.
Instead of releasing the suspect or arraigning him before a court of competent jurisdiction, the Commissioner of Police, Osun State and Moses (O’C Anti-Kidnapping) took Olabode Owoeye to Abuja and dropped him somewhere unknown to his relatives. Up till now Olabode Owoeye has not been arraigned before any court of competent jurisdiction.
According to statements made at the court, “Nobody is asking the police to release Olabode Owoeye unconditionally but our contention is that if truly he has been found to have committed an offence, our criminal justice system does not permit the police to investigate, prosecute and judge any suspect or a defendant. Definitely, the suspect has to be brought before the court for the law to take its course on such a person.
“The question now is where is Olabode Owoeye, why has he not been arraigned before any court if the allegations against him are devoid of political intonation? The act of disobedience to the orders of court is always condemnable in any democratic setting.
“We hereby call on the Police Service Commission (PSC), the IG and all meaningful Nigerians to wade into this unwarranted disobedience to the Order of Court for we are not in a police state where the rule of law could be trampled upon. In a democratic setting, monsters are not allowed to hold public positions tampering with or contravening the established and constitutionally guaranteed fundamental human rights. The rule of law should prevail”.
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