Court orders el-Rufai to pay N900m damages for unlawful arrest of Adara elders in Kaduna

A federal high court in Kaduna has ordered former governor of the state, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, 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.

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 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.