A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has ordered the Kano State Government to pay the sum of N10 million as damages to the deposed Emir, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, for violating his fundamental rights.
The court, which assumed jurisdiction to hear Bayero’s rights violation suit, also ordered the Kano State Government to guarantee the deposed emir’s right to movement and personal liberty.
In a ruling on Friday, the presiding judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Simon Amobeda, noted that he was duty bound to resolve the issue of jurisdiction of the court to determine the case before delving into the main matter of the case.
According to him, without jurisdiction, any proceeding is null.
Justice Amobeda, while declaring the jurisdiction of the court to hear the case, insisted that the issue of determination fell under the abuse of fundamental human rights of the applicant, adding that the Constitution had granted the Federal High Court the powers to preside over the matter.
He noted that Bayero was seeking, among other reliefs, the payment of N5 billion as damages from the Kano State Government for breaching his fundamental human rights.
The judge also noted that the applicant also asked for the enforcement of his rights to movement and personal liberty.
In his ruling, the judge said, “It is the duty of the court to protect the rights of every citizen but that protection cannot be done in vacuum, a person crying over a violation of his fundamental human rights must provide cogent and vital evidence to that effect, which the applicant has successfully provided.”
He noted that in 2019, the then government of Kano State used the Kingmakers to select a new Emir, but surprisingly, on Friday, May 23, 2024, the Governor of Kano State, Abba Yusuf, used social media to propagate that he had deposed the applicant (Bayero) and ordered the police to arrest him after giving him 48 hours to vacate the palace.
“To this end, I so hold that without any lawful justification, the applicant was threatened, and his fundamental rights to liberty as guaranteed in Section 35(1) of the 1999 Constitution, were breached.
“Similarly, the action of the government, which had forced the applicant into a house arrest, preventing him from going about his lawful business, constitutes a flagrant violation of his fundamental rights to freedom of movement as guaranteed under Section 41(1) of the 1999 Constitution,” the judge added.
The court also ordered that the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th respondents, including the police and the DSS, are either by themselves, their agents, servants, privies or any other persons or authority forthwith restrained from arresting, detaining or harassing Bayero.
Justice Amobeda further ordered that the government of Kano State should pay the sum of N10 million for breaching and likely breaching Bayero’s fundamental rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement, as guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution.
