A Beninese court in Cotonou has ordered that Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, should be returned to police custody pending further investigation. This order is coming after a 13-hour hearing, which ended at around 11:20 pm on Monday, July 26, 2021.
The case was heard behind closed doors, as the court placed some restrictions on attendance, granting access to only lawyers, Igboho’s wife, Ropo, who was just released from police detention in Cotonou, and a few others in the courtroom.
According to a report from Punch, journalists and Igboho’s supporters who thronged the court in large numbers were barred from the court proceedings, so details of the judgment have been sketchy as of the time of filing this report.
There were reports that the police dispersed the supporters and journalists from the court’s premises. However, some of the supporters reassembled at Marina Roundabout in Cotonou some minutes after, awaiting judgement.
What you should know
It can be recalled that last Thursday, the Beninese court had adjourned Igboho’s case till Monday after his team of 5 lawyers failed to convince the prosecutor that he had no case to answer.
The Beninese authorities, however, released Ropo, the agitator’s wife, who was arrested along with the 48-year-old activist on Monday, July 19, 2021, by the International Criminal Police Organisation at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, on their way to Germany. Igboho was returned to police custody.
Igboho is reportedly in court to answer to charges for possible extradition to Nigeria after he escaped from Nigeria following a raid on his residence in Ibadan by the Department of State Security (DSS). The incident had resulted in some casualties.
After Thursday’s hearing, the lawyers had said that prosecutors claimed Igboho was on a watchlist for alleged trafficking in arms, inciting violence that could result in social disturbance, and causing disunity in Nigeria.
