A
magistrate’s court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State has ordered the Commissioner
of Police in the state, Mr. Fimihan Adeoye, to arrest the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba
Abdulrasheed Akanbi, and bring him to court on January 6, 2017.
The
magistrate, Olusola Aluko, gave the fresh order on Friday when the case
involving the monarch came up for hearing again.
He
said he was surprised that the police commissioner had not arrested Oluwo since
he first issued the bench warrant of arrest against the first class monarch.
Aluko expressed dismay that the police commissioner had not effected the bench
warrant of arrest he had issued against the monarch, which he said he had
signed and handed over to an officer of the state police command.
He
said, “I am baffled that the commissioner of police has not done his duty. I am
also surprised by his claim that he was unaware of the bench warrant. That must
be a joke of the century. I, therefore, order him to immediately arrest the
respondent.
“I
am not joking with my order. He (Akanbi) should be arrested and brought to this
court on Friday, January 6, 2017. The sanctity of the judiciary must be
protected.”
Aluko
stated that the case instituted by the Oluwo Oke of Iwo Oke, Oba Kadiri Adeoye,
against Akanbi before his court was not a chieftaincy case but a criminal one.
He
said, “I will like to say that the matter before me was filed based on sections
35, 37 and 38 of the criminal procedures of Osun State.
“In
a criminal case such as this, a defendant must appear in court. This court is
not trying a chieftaincy matter. It is the law that once an order is made, to
prevent anarchy, such an order must be obeyed.
“It
is to be noted that an order was first made by my brother, Magistrate Omisade
of Iwo jurisdiction before the case was transferred here by fiat and I had
asked him (Akanbi) three times to appear before this court.”
It
will be recalled that the magistrate had on December 2 threatened to issue a
bench warrant against the Oluwo if he failed to appear before him on December
20, but the monarch failed to appear before the court.
The
magistrate then issued a bench warrant against the monarch on December 20 but
the monarch allegedly said he would not appear before the magistrate.
Aluko
had also issued a fresh bench warrant against the monarch on Wednesday for
contempt of court but the monarch still did not appear on Friday.
The
Oluwo had earlier said in an interview that he would not appear before the
magistrate, but subsequent efforts to get his reaction to the fresh order of
arrest were not successful as calls put across to his telephone did not
connect.
The
police commissioner, when contacted on the telephone after the fresh court
order, said he was not aware of it.
Source:Punch
Tags
Politics