Shockwaves are reverberating across Yorùbáland and the global Yorùbá diaspora following the sudden death of the Baba Ọba (King’s Father) of the famed Oyotunji African Village in South Carolina, USA. The late Baba Ọba, Lukman Arohunfale, a revered socialite and traditionalist, passed away under circumstances already sparking fierce controversy. His death comes just days after he publicly accused the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Akeem Adéyẹmọ Owoade, of allegedly ordering his courtiers to beat him mercilessly during a recent courtesy visit to the Oyo palace in Nigeria. In a widely circulated voice recording, the deceased recounted how what was meant to be a simple homage turned violent. Although the Baba Ọba had reportedly battled ill health in the past year, growing insinuations suggest that the alleged physical assault may have aggravated his condition, ultimately leading to his untimely death. The palace in Oyo recently denied that s...
Update: Court awards N10m to man who sued DSS and Buhari's daughter, Hanan, after he was illegally detained for buying sim card previously used by her
A Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta state, has awarded the sum of N10m to a businessman, Anthony Okolie who was allegedly detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) for using a sim card previously used by President Buhari's daughter, Hanan Buhari. Recall that on July 19, 2019, Okolie, an Asaba-based businessman was arrested by the DSS and detained for using a telephone line that was previously owned by Hanan. According to Okolie, he remained in custody, bound by handcuffs till September 22, 2019- a period of 10 weeks, without any charge as the DSS waited for Hanan who was schooling in the UK as at the time. After his release, Okolie sued the DSS, President Buhari's daughter and MTN for N500m in damages “as general and aggravated damages for the gross and unlawful violation of the applicant’s right to acquire moveable properties, freedom of movement and self dignity.” On Thursday the court presided by Justice Nnamdi Dimg alt='Update: Court awards N10m to man who sued DSS and Buhari's daughter, Hanan, after he was illegally detained for buying sim card previously used by her' class='img-responsive text-center' style='margin: auto;'ba, awarded him N10m in damages to be paid by the DSS for the abuse of Mr Okolie’s fundamental human rights, but struck out the charges against Hanan Buhari, and telecoms company, MTN saying that there is no substantial evidence against Hanan and MTN. The DSS had in court papers claimed they got a directive from the presidency to arrest Okolie as he was using the phone number to solicit for funds from the public, an allegation Okolie's legal team flatly denied. Tope Akinyode, lawyer to Okolie in a Twitter post on Thursday confirmed the news of the court ruling. “I've been able to persuade the Federal High Court to award N10m against SSS for the 10 weeks detention of Anthony Okolie over an MTN SIM card once used by the daughter of President Buhari, Hanan." he said.
