The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, on Wednesday filed an application before an Oyo State High Court, praying it to vacate the order stopping the arrest and freezing of accounts of Sunday Adeyemo, a.k.a, Sunday Igboho.
The court had on August 4 granted an exparte application by Igboho, restraining the Department of State Service (DSS) and the AGF from arresting and intimidating Igboho and from freezing his bank accounts.
Igboho’s counsel, Mr Yomi Aliu (SAN) had informed the court that his client’s life was being threatened after the invasion of his house by the DSS on July 1, where property were damage and an occupant was killed.
Other respondents in the suit are the DSS, its Director, the Oyo State Government and the AGF.
At the resumed hearing of the suit, AGF’s counsel, Mr Abdullah Abubakar, informed the court that he had filed a preliminary objection on the matter.
Abubakar said that he could not move the application now because he filed the preliminary objection and other processes in the matter out of time and urged the court to grant him an extension of time.
He said that the delay in filing his processes was not deliberate but due to the fact that he was not briefed on the matter at the appropriate time.
The counsel to the DSS, Mr T.A. Nurudeen, informed the court that he had responded to the processes served on him by the applicant’s counsel.
In his response, the applicant’s counsel, Aliu, said the processes filed by the AGF were incompetent, adding that the respondent had exceeded the five days stipulated by the law to respond after the receipt of the originating summons.
He urged the court not to grant the application, adding that time was of essence in a fundamental human rights’ suit.
Justice Ladiran Akintola granted the application for extension of time and awarded N50,000 as cost, against the respondent.
Akintola added that the order restrained the respondents from arresting, intimidating and freezing Igboho’s account still subsists until it is vacated by the court.
He adjourned the case to August 30 for the hearing of the application.