Abuja Federal High Court fines IGP ₦10m for illegal arrest, detention of Bashir Haɗejia

Court fines IGP

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the release of Bashir Haɗejia, a politician and businessman, declaring his arrest and detention by the police unlawful and unconstitutional.

Court fines IGP2

The court also fined the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) ₦10 million for the violation of Haɗejia’s fundamental human rights.

Delivering judgment on Tuesday, Justice Emeka Nwite criticised the police for raiding Haɗejia’s home without a warrant, and detaining him without justification, describing the actions as a blatant breach of the law.

“The invasion of the applicant’s home, his arrest without a warrant and subsequent detention are unlawful, and a gross violation of his fundamental human rights”, Nwite stated.

The court further issued a perpetual injunction restraining the IGP, his agents, and servants from arresting or detaining Haɗejia unlawfully in the future.

Haɗejia, a former special adviser to Bello Matawalle, the ex-governor of Zamfara State, was reportedly arrested in August 2024 by the Force Intelligence Department – Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT), over allegations of treason and subversion against the State.

However, Haɗejia denied the charges, describing them as politically motivated.

Through his counsel, Mahmud Magaji, Haɗejia filed a suit, with Ref. No: (FHC/ABJ/CS/1235/2024), against the IGP and other respondents, including Matawalle and the Department of State Services (DSS). He sought nine reliefs: including a declaration that his arrest was illegal and a demand for ₦500 million in damages.

Haɗejia’s younger brother, Abubakar, provided an affidavit stating that the arrest was part of a political vendetta following a fallout with Matawalle after the latter’s failed reelection bid in 2023. Abubakar also alleged that Haɗejia’s home was raided without a search warrant, and no inventory of items was recorded.

Although Matawalle and other respondents denied the allegations, the court found no concrete evidence linking them to Haɗejia’s arrest. However, the judge noted that the IGP failed to challenge the evidence against him.

“It is worthy of note that the 1st respondent did not file any process despite being served with the hearing notices and all court documents. Unchallenged evidence in court is deemed true”, Justice Nwite stated.

Related posts

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.