Court Orders Access to Lawyers for Detained Adeyemi

On Thursday, Justice Obiora Egwatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Inspector General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Attorney-General of the Federation to grant Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi access to his lawyers. Adeyemi has been in police custody since July following an arrest ordered by Justice Umar Mohammed after he failed to appear in court.

The Federal Government is prosecuting Adeyemi for his alleged connection to the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), which is claimed to be non-existent. In response to his continued detention, Adeyemi filed a fundamental rights suit and an ex-parte application requesting his release and access to medical practitioners due to alleged ill health.

Justice Egwatu ruled that while requests for bail and medical attention could not be granted without hearing from the respondents, he mandated that Adeyemi be allowed unfettered access to his lawyers. The court set a 72-hour deadline for the AGF and police to respond to the other reliefs sought by Adeyemi, with a hearing scheduled for September 9.