COURT ORDERS EL-RUFAI TO PAY N900M FOR ILLEGAL DETENTION OF ADARA ELDERS
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
A Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna has ordered former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, to pay N900 million in damages for the illegal arrest and detention of nine Adara elders in 2019, ruling that their fundamental human rights were grossly violated.
Justice Hauwa’u Buhari, who delivered the judgment on Tuesday, held El-Rufai personally liable for orchestrating the arbitrary detention of the elders, who were arrested following the murder of Dr. Raphael Maiwada Galadima, the paramount ruler of the Adara people.
The court ruled in favour of the applicants, Awemi Dio Maisamari and eight others, who sued the former governor and five other respondents, including the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector General of Police, and the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police.
In addition to the N900 million awarded against El-Rufai, the court also granted N10 million in general damages and another N10 million in special damages against the police authorities.
Reacting to the ruling, the applicants’ counsel, Gloria Mabeiam Ballason, described the judgment as a landmark victory against executive impunity.
“This judgment marks a watershed against abuse of power and accountability for abuse, whether the occupiers of the office are temporarily shielded by immunity or not,” she said. “Even when people in authority enjoy immunity, it does not warrant executive lawlessness.”
The Adara elders, including former commissioner Bawa Magaji and a retired police commissioner, were detained after El-Rufai reportedly labelled them security threats in Kajuru. They were later released after the Attorney General found no evidence linking them to any crime.
El-Rufai, who was sued in his personal capacity after leaving office, was named as the first respondent in the case. Efforts to obtain a comment from the Kaduna State Solicitor General, J.A. Danazumi—counsel to the respondents—were unsuccessful as he declined to speak on the matter.
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