Southern Kaduna elders sue El-Rufai for harassment, demand N2.3b

The nine Adara elders in Southern Kaduna, have instituted a lawsuit, demanding N2.3 billion damages from former Governor Nasir Ahmed El-Rufai’s government in 2019 for breach of human rights.

The claimants, led by the former Chairman of the Adara Development Association (ADA), Aweni Dio Maisamari, are demanding N2.3 billion in damages, ranging from arbitrary arrest to general exemplary damages and special damages.

The case came up at the Federal High Court, Kaduna, on Tuesday and was adjourned by Justice Hauwa’u Buhari to give room for proper service to the respondents, in line with Order 5 Rule 7 of the Fundamental Human Rights Acts.

Speaking to journalists after the adjournment, counsel to the plaintiff, Gloria Ballason, explained that her client was unjustly imprisoned by the immediate past administration of the state for more than three months in 2019 and later released because nothing was found against him.

She said: “We are here for a case of unjust imprisonment of the Adara Elders; they were imprisoned in 2019, and they came to court to seek the enforcement of their fundamental rights.

“Their Chief, Rafael Maiwada Galadima, was killed in very questionable and curious circumstances about the same time this arrest occurred under the administration of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

“It so happened that my client standing here with me—Mr. Aweni Dio Maisamari—had shown up at a meeting and wanted to make an inquiry but was bundled up and taken to prison along with eight others. After more than three months, the court found nothing against them, and the case was dismissed.”

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According to Ballason, it was Mallam El-Rufai who specifically directed that the President of the Adara Development Association, Mr. Aweni Dio Maisamari, should be picked without investigation and without reasonable suspicion of a crime.

She said, “The Nasir El-Rufai administration was well known to be that of a cocktail of rights violations, including killings, wrongful imprisonments, and attacks.”

The plaintiffs in the case are claiming damages, which include restraining the respondent from illegal orders, including the state, and a perpetual injunction in the sum of N900 million for arbitrary arrest, compensation of N100 million for general and exemplary damages, N500 million for other damages that were in court, and special damages in the sum of N800 million given the quantum of rights that were violated.

Ballason maintained that among the nine Adara Elders who were unjustly imprisoned were a former Commissioner of Police, including the Waziri Adara, who at the time was next to the Chief of Adara, the late Rafael Maiwada Galadima, who was murdered in questionable circumstances, and then the lead claimant, Mr. Aweni Dio Maisamari, who at present occupies a senior-ranking position in the Adara community.

Meanwhile, Justice Hauwa’u Buhari has adjourned the case to the 24th of next month, October 2024.