The Upper Area Court, Kubwa, Abuja, in the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), yesterday ordered the immediate arrest of the son of former Vice-President Alh. Atiku Abubakar, for disobeying an October 27, 2020 judgment directing him to hand his three sons to their mother, Maryam Sherif, for custody.
Sherif had commenced the children-custody suit after the divorce between her and her former husband, Abubakar, who bears the same first name and surname with his father, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
The judge, Bashir Danmaisule, had on October 27, 2020 delivered judgment in favour of Sherif. But her lawyer, Nasir Saidu, returned the court complaining that Abubakar had failed to comply with the judgment and urged the court to issue a judgment-debtor summons for the defendant to appear in court to explain why he did not obey the courts order and why he should not be jailed for disobeying the court judgment.
Both Abubakar and his lawyer, Abdullahi Hassan, were absent in court yesterday, although the court bailiff said the defendant was served with the summons through the Nigeria Customs Service, where he works, on November 3, 2020.
The presiding judge, Dan-maisule, in acceding to the judgment-creditors lawyer, noted that the judgment-debtor (Abubakar) appeared to have refused to appear in the court despite being served with the hearing notice.
Citing Section 26 of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Area Courts (Repeal and Enactment) Act 2010, issued an order for the immediate arrest of the judgment-debtor.
Court orders arrest of Atikus son over children custody
