A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, declared the banishment of dethroned Emir of Kano Lamido Sanusi as unlawful and unconstitutional.
This was made known in the judgment passed by the High Court Justice Anuli Chikere, who held that the Emirate Council Law of 2019 applied by the Kano State government to effect the banishment contradicted the amended 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
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Chikere stated that confining the former emir to a particular location was a gross violation of his right to liberty and freedom of movement as provided in the 1999 Constitution as amended.
The court, therefore, awarded N10 million in favour of Sanusi and ordered that the state government publish a public apology in two national dailies.
Sanusi had been dethroned as Emir of Kano by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje in 2020.
According to a statement by the governor, the dethronement had been due to Sanusi’s disrespect to lawful authorities and general insubordination.
He had been banished to Loko Local Government Area of Nasarawa State upon dethronement, according to tradition.
He had sued Kano State, Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, the State Security Service (SSS) and the Police in a human rights suit and asked for his release from confinement to Nasarawa State.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.