A magistrate’s court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has issued another bench warrant ordering the state commissioner of Police, Fimihan Adeoye, to arrest and bring the Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrasheed Akanbi to court on January 6, 2017 for contempt.
He said he was surprised that the police commissioner had not arrested Oluwo since he first issued the bench warrant of arrest against him.
“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.”
He said the case against Akanbi was not a chieftaincy matter but a criminal one.
“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.”
On December 20, the court issued a bench warrant against the Oluwo after he failed to appear before him. The monarch has vowed not to appear before the magistrate.
