COURT ORDERS IGP TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST THE ALAFIN

THE Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, has granted an order of mandamus compelling the Inspector-General of Police, Sulaiman Abba, to investigate alleged criminal activities levelled against the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III.

Delivering ruling in suit FHC/IB/CS/54/2014, Justice Ayo Emmanuel, on Monday, said he was granting the prayers of the applicants since the respondent did not challenge the contents of a 17-paragraph affidavit filed by the applicants in support of their exparte motion.
Consequently, the judge said: “pursuant to order 34 rules 3(4) of the Federal High Court rules and under the inherent jurisdiction of this honourable court, the prayers are hereby granted.”
The applicants, Chiefs Jacob Oluokun and Sulaimon Ishola, had prayed the court to compel the IGP to investigate allegations of criminal activities of the Alaafin contained in their petition to the Inspector General of police dated March 18, 2014 and delivered to the IG on April 17, 2014.
In the exparte motion, the applicants had sought an order of mandamus compelling the respondents to investigate the allegations of crime contained in a letter dated March 18, 2014 entitled: “Unprecedented criminality, flagrant human rights violation, bomb planting, gun running and unresolved assassinations in Oyo town, Oyo state.”
The counsel to the applicants, Mr Abiodun Abdul-Raheem, had adopted a 4-page written address to support the claims of the applicants.
The suit was registered on July 7, 2014, while the court sat on the matter on October 6, December 4 and entered its ruling on December 15.