A federal high court in Kaduna has ordered Nasir el-Rufai,
former governor of the state, to pay N900 million in damages for the arbitrary
arrest and detention of nine elders from the Adara community, Kajuru LGA, in
2019.
Hauwa’u Buhari, the presiding judge, on Tuesday, delivered
the judgment in a fundamental human rights suit filed by one of Adara elders.
THE CASE
On March 22, 2024, Awema Dio Maisamari, one of the elders
and a former president of the Adara Development Association (ADA), filed a suit
for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights.
Maisamari had prayed for an order for compensation over the violation of his right to dignity, injury to personal and business reputation, gross loss of business earnings and leadership opportunities totaling N2.3 billion following his illegal arrest and detention.
In February 2019, el-Rufai, then governor of Kaduna, ordered
the police to arrest Maisamari and eight other Adara elders over the allegation
of being behind the crisis in Kajuru LGA, where bandits were attacking the
communities.
Adara is one of the ethnic groups in southern Kaduna.
After 43 days in detention without trial, the Adara elders
were released on March 30, 2019.
The former Kaduna governor was reportedly served the legal
suit through substituted means.
He did not appear in court and was not represented by a
counsel.
THE JUDGMENT
The presiding judge ruled that el-Rufai orchestrated the
arbitrary arrest and detention of the plaintiff and therefore liable for the
N900 million compensation.
The judge ordered the inspector-general of police (IGP), the
Kaduna commissioner of police and the Nigerian Police Force (NGF) to pay N10
million as general and special damages to the plaintiff.
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that's small money for him
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