The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the suit filed by the former Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi, challenging his banishment.
The IGP in his preliminary objection argued that the FHC lacked the jurisdiction to hear the fundamental rights enforcement suits.
On March 9, 2020, the Kano State Government deposed the former Emir, whence the security agents moved him to Abuja.
He was then banished to Awe, Nasarawa State, where he was later detained in a private home until March 13 when he obtained an interim court order for his release from house arrest.
Sanusi through his lead counsel, Lateef Fagtbemi (SAN), in his substantive suit contended that his banishment and house arrest violated his right to freedom of movement.
In his argument against the jurisdiction of the court, the IGP contended that the rights violation complained by Sanusi followed his dethronement which took place in Kano. He argued that Kano should be the appropriate venue to file the suit, not Abuja.
He said, “The alleged infringement of the fundamental right of the applicant in this suit (Sanusi) is only ancillary to the dethronement of the applicant as the Emir of Kano, which is a matter within the jurisdiction of the High Court of a state.
“It is crystal clear from all the processes filed by the applicant that the facts that gave rise to this case arose from Kano State, where the applicant was dethroned as the Emir and flown to Abuja enroute Nasarawa State.
“It is our submission that coming into Abuja was only as a mere passage to their actual destination, which is Nasarawa State, and as such, Abuja cannot, by any stretch of reasoning, be said to be the place where the infringement occurred.”
The IGP further stated that the dethronement which led to the banishment was about chieftaincy and that only state High Court and not the Federal High Court had jurisdiction to hear the matter.
But, in a counter-affidavit by Sanusi, faulted the IGP’s position, insisting that his suit was not about his dethronement but his family’s forceful ejection from the palace and their banishment from Kano and subsequent confinement.
He argued that the infringement of his fundamental rights was limited to Kano but was a continuous process that spanned through three territories – Kano, Abuja and Nasarawa.
His lawyer said, “The nucleus or gravamen of the applicant’s complaint is centrally on the violations of the applicant’s fundamental rights and there is no or any other complaints therein.
“The claim of the applicant, as presently constituted, does not have any coloration of a chieftaincy matter as alleged by the 1st respondent. The applicant is not challenging his deposition in this case.”
The hearing was later fixed for October 20 by Justice Chikere.
