…awards N10m damages against Kano govt, IGP, DSS
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Tuesday, declared the banishment of the dethroned Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi and his forcible relocation to Awe in Nasarawa State as unlawful and violation of his fundamental human rights.
Justice Anwuli Chikere, in her judgment, held that the manner Sanusi was ejected from the palace in March 2020 after his dethronement and whisked away to Nasarawa State by security agents on the orders of the Kano State Government against his will amounted to a vicious violation of his rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement.
The court also declared as a nullity the Emirate Council Law 2019 upon which the Kano State Government claimed to have acted, declaring that Sanusi, as a citizen of Nigeria, who has committed no offence, had the right to live in any part of the country.
The judge awarded N10 million damages against the Kano State Government, the Inspector General of Police and the Department of State Services.
Justice Chiekere also ordered the respondents to tender public apology to Sanusi in at least two national daily newspapers.
Although Sanusi joined the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), as the fourth respondent, the court excluded Malami from the suit on the grounds that the applicant failed to establish any case against him.