Eighteen-year-old Kemisola Oguniyi arrested by soldiers in Akure, Ondo State, after the violence that erupted in the wake of the October 2020 #EndSARS protests may be released on Monday, her lawyer has said.
Ms Oguniyi was said to be about two months pregnant when she was arrested on October 22, 2020.
She has since been kept in pretrial detention in Akure prison for offences including, arson and unlawful assembly.
She gave birth to a baby boy in prison on Wednesday, a development that immediately started the campaign for her release.
On Thursday, her lawyer, Tope Temokun, wrote separate letters to the Ondo State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Charles Titiloye, and Chief Judge, Akeredolu, demanding her release.
Mr Temokun said in a press statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday that his client would be released by Monday and would be able to mark her newborn’s naming ceremony which traditionally holds seven days after birth, at home.
The lawyer’s assurance is premised on a meeting he said he had with the state’s attorney-general on Friday.
According to Mr Temokun, the attorney-general expressed his passionate interest in seeing Ms Oguniyi out on bail without delay.
“The AG took steps to reach out for an earlier date for the hearing of the bail applications filed for Kemisola and three others while the case of Kemisola is taken as a case of urgency and showed genuine concern to see Kemisola leave prison to take care of her baby at home,” the lawyer stated.
Mr Temokun also said he got “good assurances “from the office of Chief Judge that the new mother would be home as soon as possible.
Due to the touching nature of the case and the increasing public interest and the concern by many Nigerians, lawyers, organisations which include but not limited to the NBA branches of Akure and Ondo and beyond, we have deemed it fit to intimate and update our colleagues and the general public on this case this afternoon,” the lawyer said.
