"It is clear that the Benin Republic has gone well beyond the customary legal procedures in Igboho's case."
Gani Adams, the Aare Ona-Kakanfo of Yorubaland, has asked Yorubas in the diaspora to file a complaint with the African Union Court or the International Court of Justice over the continued arrest of Yoruba nation campaigner Sunday Adeyemo.
Mr Adams made the request in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lagos by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the arrested
activist's lawyer, Yomi Aliyu (SAN), has revealed that Sunday Adeyemo, also
known as Sunday Igboho, has been imprisoned in the Benin Republic for six
months.
Mr Adams, who expressed disappointment at the manner the
case was being handled by the Beninese Government, described the continuous
detention of Mr Igboho without trial as a misplacement of justice.
He noted that the continuous, prolonged detention of Mr
Igboho had shown that Beninese authority was no respecter of human rights.
"There was misplacement of justice in the way Igboho's
detention was extended without trial. It is evident that the Benin Republic has
taken Igboho's case far beyond the normal legal procedures.
"He never committed any crime. He was just expressing
his displeasure under the ambit of law; however, despite the fact that there
were no criminal charges against him, the Benin Republic Court still detained
him unjustly without trial," he said
Mr Adams stated that the law of any country that claimed to
be guided by the rule of law should be explicit on the rights of individual
citizens.
According to him, Mr Igboho's rights have been violated after he was wrongfully detained in Benin for more than six months for a person who had not been convicted of any crime and who is not a criminal by any standard.
"I implore Yorubas in the Diaspora to convey Igboho's issue to the international world, and attempts should be made to seek remedy through the African Union Court (AUC) or the International Court of Justice" (ICJ).
"The prolonging of Igboho's imprisonment highlighted the fragility in the administration of justice," he remarked.
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