Okupe’s arrest, infringement on his rights, says lawyer

Former Director-General of Peter Obi’s presidential campaign council, Dr Doyin Okupe’s lawyer, Tolu Babaleye has said his arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS) was an infringement on his right to movement.

Okupe was arrested on Thursday morning by DSS officials at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on his way to the United Kingdom for a routine medical checkup.

Babaleye who spoke to journalists shortly after the incident said Okupe’s arrest was instructed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Babaleye, who spoke to a DSS official after the arrest, said that he has been taken to the DSS office at Ikosi, Lagos.

Meanwhile,

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that the Department of State Services (DSS) acted on a 2016 watch list request to arrest former presidential aide, Doyin Okupe, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Thursday morning.

The anti-graft agency also said it was in the process of formally lifting the watch list on Okupe before his interception by the secret police on Thursday morning.

The Commission, however, said it will expedite action and remove the Labour Party (LP) chieftain from its watch list.

The DSS had announced Okupe’s arrest on Thursday morning at the Lagos airport just as he tried to catch London flight via Virgin Atlantic. The secret police also said the LP chieftain’s arrest was at the instance of EFCC.

However, hours later, Okupe, in a tweet, said he had been released, adding that security agents “apologised” to him for “the error”.