Court Document Shows Peter Obi Was Not Responsible For El-Rufai’s Arrest

 

More evidence has emerged in the allegation levelled against the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi by the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.

El-Rufai, a few weeks back, had claimed that Obi in 2013, as the governor of Anambra State, arrested and detained him.

The Kaduna State Governor, who stated this at an interactive session of the Arewa Joint Committee in Kaduna, claimed that Obi arrested and detained him for 48 hours.

El-Rufai stated that he visited Anambra to monitor the state’s governorship bye-election at the time.

However, a judgement of the Federal High Court, Awka division in Anambra State delivered on September 29, 2014, shows that Obi had no hand in the detention of El-Rufai in 2013.

According to PRNigeria that obtained a suit filed by El-Rufai on the 19th of December, 2013 challenging the breach of his fundamental rights as occasioned by his restriction to hotel premises, disclosed that it has no reference either directly or indirectly to Obi in El-Rufai’s 48 hours detention at Finotel hotel premises.

El-Rufai in his claims in the court papers had stated that operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) were solely responsible for the unlawful restrictions he suffered from November 15 to 16.

In the judgement delivered by Justice Bature Isah Gafai, El-Rufai directed his allegations against the SSS alone and did not join either Obi or Anambra State Government as defendants in the suit marked FHC/AWK/CS/310/13.

The only two defendants in the suit are the SSS and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) as 1st and 2nd defendants respectively.

The AGF was made a defendant on account of being the Chief Law Officer of the Federation as well as for vicarious liabilities reasons.

The news platform disclosed that Justice Bature Isah Gafai, in the 29-page judgment, never made even a veil reference or issued an order whatsoever, against Peter Obi and Anambra State since El-Rufai in all his depositions in the suit pointed no wrongdoings against Peter Obi in the detention saga.

Justice Gafai , in the Court of Appeal, found SSS liable for the unlawful detention of El-Rufai and accordingly, imposed a fine of N2M on the security agency to be paid as damages to El-Rufai for the breach of his fundamental rights to personal liberty, freedom of movement, speech, and association.

The Judge also ordered the SSS to tender an apology to El-Rufai in two national dailies, to wit; the Sun and Daily Trust newspapers, having been found liable for the act complained of by El-Rufai.

The SSS and AGF in their joint counter affidavit to El-Rufai’s claims of unlawful arrest and detention had asserted in defence, that the Kaduna State Governor who was classified as a “VIP” was accorded protective restrictions when he refused the request of its operatives to give him protective company.

Though Justice Gafai rejected the SSS assertions, the security agency had claimed to have an “intelligence report” that El-Rufai would be harmed and that it would be blamed for the failure to act to give him protection, hence, the deployment of its operatives to the hotel.

The security agency, specifically, claimed that it had no choice but to confine El-Rufai to the hotel premises because of his blunt refusal to allow its operatives to accompany him during the election monitoring.

The fact check carried out by the platform shows that Obi was not involved in the detention of El-Rufai.