EL-RUFAI WINS Unlawful Detention: El-Rufai Defeats SSS & AGF; Court Declares Restriction Of Movement During Election Unconstitutional Delivering judgment in Awka today, Justice Ibrahim Bature Gafai held that the SSS had no statutory powers under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or under any Nigerian law to have detained El Rufai without showing cause to a court of competent jurisdiction. The court therefore ordered the SSS to publish an apology in two national dailies for the unlawful and unconstitutional violation of his liberty. The Federal High Court today ordered the State Security Service (SSS) to apologise to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and to pay him N2 million in damages for unlawfully detaining him last November during the Anambra gubernatorial election. The court also pronounced that neither the SSS nor the Attorney-General of the Federation, who was joined in the suit, had any legal authority to restrict El-Rufai’sright of movement as enshrined in Section 34 of the constitution, a ruling that has massive implications for future elections in the country. The events took place on 15 and 16 November 2013, when SSS officials detained and harassed the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory at the Finotel, Awka. Nasir El-Rufai Outraged at that treatment, El-Rufai sought legal redress, with the SSS and the Attorney-General of the Federation listed as respondents in the suit. Delivering judgment in Awka today, Justice Ibrahim Bature Gafai held that the SSS had no statutory powers under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or under any Nigerian law to have detained El Rufai without showing cause to a court of competent jurisdiction. The court therefore ordered the SSS to publish an apology in two national dailies for the unlawful and unconstitutional violation of his liberty.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 19:20:08 +0000
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