The defence counsels to the eight suspects standing trial for the murder of a University of Ilorin (Unilorin) student, Olajide Omowumi Blessing, have accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of torturing their clients to extract confessional statements.
The counsels, in their respective submissions at the Kwara State High Court presided over by Justice Adebayo Yusuf, said their clients were coerced, beaten and tortured in the process of taking their statements.
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They said such statements should not be admitted in evidence by the court.
Barr Shina Ibiyemi, counsel to the first defendant, AbdulAzeez Ismail, told the court that the DSS used tasers and whips on his client in order to obtain confessional statements from him.
Another lawyer, Barr Lukman Bello, also alleged that the statement credited to the eighth defendant, Akande Oladoja, was not written by him.
The DSS agent, Femi Babalola, who was the ninth witness in the case, dismissed the allegations, stating that the defendants volunteered their confessional statements without any intimidation whatsoever.
Babalola said, “At no point did any operative manhandle any of the suspects in order to extract confessional statements from them. Torture and harassment are against the law.”
The judge adjourned the continuation of hearing to September 23 and 24.
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