Court Releases Chief Suspect In The Murder Of Temitope Sugar

An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has granted bail to a ‘chief suspect’ in the March 9 murder of a serving federal lawmaker, Temitope Olatoye, popularly known as Sugar.

PREMIER NEWS recalls that Sugar, a member of the House of Representatives from Lagelu/Akinyele Constituency, died two months ago, after he was shot by gunmen during the governorship and House of Assembly elections.

He has since been buried in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.

Following his death, about five suspects including a serving member of the state House of Assembly from Akinyele, Olafisoye Akinmoyede, were apprehended and taken to Abuja, kept ‘under protective custody.’

But on Thursday, this week, Akinmoyede through his counsel, Michael Lana, approached Justice Moshood Abass and sought to enforce the fundamental human rights against prolonged detention.

Lana had urged the court to declare the continued detention of his client in police custody in Abuja as unlawful and a violation of his fundamental human right.

He urged the court to grant bail to his client pending the arraignment of his client in court.

Meanwhile, the counsel to the Commissioner of Police was absent at the hearing.

In response, the presiding judge, Justice Abass, said he considered the action of the police as arrogant, unlawful and unconstitutional.

According to Abass, all actions of the police must be seen to have justification in law and the fundamental right of the applicant must not be restrained by any technicality.

The judge said the practice of the police making an arrest before the investigation was not proper.

“The power of the police to arrest and detain is not in doubt but the Constitution stipulates that any person detained must be arraigned within 24hours.”

Punch reports that the judge also held that the police had not provided any justification that would warrant the court not to grant bail to the applicant.

In his ruling, the judge held that the applicant should be granted bail with a surety who is blood relation with landed property worth N50 million, among others.

The judge said the other surety should be a civil servant on Grade Level 14 or a member of the state House of Assembly.