News
Tiamin Rice mill: Kano government, IGP, others faces contempt charge for disobeying court orders
The Federal High Court in Abuja has issued a notice of contempt of Court in a civil case between Tiamin Rice Limited, Tiamin Multi Service Global, Alhaji Ali Ibrahim and Kano State government in which the applicant’s rice mill was sealed.
In the suit presided by Justice Abang: Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/448/2020, the Court made a consequential order in favour of the A
applicants directing the opening and unfettered access to the applicant’s factory situated on C14, AA, Shehu House, Amana city, Zaria Road, Kano.
In the notice of consequence which was made available to CAPITAL POST in Abuja on Friday by the Counsels to the applicant, Barristers A. Arosayin and C. Nwaiwu, it awarded the cost of N300,000 against the Kano State government.
The Court ordered the Kano State government, the Inspector General of Police, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Kano State Commissioner of Police and the Nigeria Civil Defence Corps to jointly unseal the business premises of the applicants, insisting that they have rights to own properties.
It said:
“To the Hon Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice , Audu Bako Secretariat Kano state for and on behalf of the Government of Kano state.
“To the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Force Headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja.
“To the Commissioner of Police of Kano state, Kano State Headquarters, Bompai Street, Kano state.
“Take note that unless you obey the directions contained in this Order, you will be guilty of contempt of court and will be liable to be committed to prison, dated this day of May 5/5/2020.
“Applicants leading A. Arosayin and C. Nwaiwu argued the originating motion on notice dated 20/4/2020 and thereafter urged the Court to grant the reliefs sought.
“AND THE COURT being satisfied that the respondents have been duly served with all courts processes and the court Order directing them to appear before the court on 27th April 2020 and they failed to appear before the court and offered no reason for being absent in court.
“AND THE COURT having considered that the Respondents failed to avail themselves of the opportunity offered them to be heard before a decision is taken on the Applicant’s suit.
“AND THE COURT having again considered the definitive pronouncement of the Supreme Court in the case of Newswatch Communication Ltd Vs Attah (2006) 12 NWLR PT.993 p.144 AT 171 ON this subject.
AND THE COURT having also considered the matter on the merit, delivered its judgment in open court today the 4/5/2020. Its reasoning and conclusions are as contained in the body of the judgment.
“AND THE COURT having considered that it is deserving to grant the Applicant’s reliefs as contained in the Originating Motion on Notice dated 20/4/2020 and also make consequential Order in order to give effect to the principal reliefs granted by the court.
IT IS HEREBY DECLARED AND ORDERED AS FOLLOWS:
“That the Applicants are lawful owners and occupiers of their property situate at C14, A.A Shehu House, Amana City, Zaria Road, Kano and are entitled to own property and enjoy peaceful occupation, possession and use of same including right of ingress and egress to the said property, as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution (AS amended).
“That the sealing of the business premises of the Applicants’ rice processing mill situate at C14, A.M Shehu House, Amana City, Zaria Road, Kano and the grounds upon which it was sealed off and consequently denied of lawful access without any order of competent court of law backing up the said denial of access constitute a violation of the Applicants’ fundamental rights guaranteed under section 33 (1), 34 (1) and 44 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) and is therefore illegal and unconstitutional.
“That it is an unlawful violation of the Applicants’ constitutionally guaranteed and protected rights to property, life and dignity of the human persons under sections 33, 34,41,42, and 43 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as Amended) for the 3rd Respondent to seal off the premises of the Applicants, occupy same, stop production of products and restrict movement to which exemption had been given, without Notice or fair hearing as guaranteed under section 36 of the 1999 constitution (as amended).
“That 1st Respondent, its officers in Kano state command, agents, privies and or anyone taking instructions from him shall immediately take possession and grant access to the Applicants for the purpose of continuing its lawful business.
“That the continued closure of the 1st Applicants’ premises or restriction of movement by the 3rd respondent through its agents is unlawful, unconstitutional and constitute an infringement of the Applicants’ fundamental rights to human dignity, right to personal liberty, and right to freedom of movement guaranteed under sections 34, 35, and 41 of the constitution and Articles 5, 6 and 12 (1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Right Act.
“That the Respondents whether jointly and/or severally by themselves, their servants, agents and/or privies are restrained from continuing in their unlawful acts of sealing off and occupying the 1st Applicant’s factory and/or otherwise in any way or manner whatsoever continue to violate or infringe upon its fundamental right to own, use and occupy property and as enshrined in section 43 (1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), as well as African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, 2004.
“That the 1st and 4th Respondents, whether jointly and/or severally by themselves, their agents, employees, operative(s), detectives, officer(s), or howsoever by whatever named called, shall forthwith unconditionally unseal, takeover and put into possession the Applicants’ rice mill factory.
“That the respondents, whether jointly and/or severally by themselves, their agents, operative(s), detective(s), officer(s), or howsoever by whatever name called, shall unconditionally remove all curtailments and restraints on the full enjoyment, occupation and use of the rice factory of the Applicants.
“That the 1st, 2nd and 4th Respondents shall give adequate security to the property and lawful persons on the property of the Applicants situate and being at C14, A.M Shehu House, Amana City, Zaria Road, Kano.
“That the 3rd Respondent by itself, its agents, employees, ministry, parastatal, Board, Commission or any other name howsoever describes deriving power and authority from the 3rd Respondent are hereby perpetually restrained from further interfering with, demolishing or attempting to cause harm to the property or officials of the Applicants or breaching the fundamental rights of the Applicants in any manner.
“The Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Kano state being an agent of Kano state government, the 3rd Judgment debtor herein shall forthwith ensure compliance with the instant subsisting judgment order of this court.
“N300,000:00 is hereby awarded as cost in favour of the Applicants/Judgment creditors payable by the Respondents/Judgment debtors before taking any steps in the proceedings.
“The Judgment creditors shall endorse Form 48 on the enrolled Judgment order and same served on 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Respondents respectively.of Court.”, it concluded.
TEXT OF THE BROADCAST BY PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES, DECLARING STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE ON TUESDAY 18 MARCH 2025
Fellow Nigerians, I feel greatly disturbed at the turn we have come to regarding the political crisis in Rivers State. Like many of you, I have watched with concern the development with the hope that the parties involved would allow good sense to prevail at the soonest, but all that hope burned out without any solution to the crisis.
With the crisis persisting, there is no way democratic governance, which we have all fought and worked for over the years, can thrive in a way that will redound to the benefit of the good people of the state. The state has been at a standstill since the crisis started, with the good people of the state not being able to have access to the dividends of democracy.
Also, it is public knowledge that the Governor of Rivers State for unjustifiable reasons, demolished the House of Assembly of the state as far back as 13th December 2023 and has, up until now, fourteen (14) months after, not rebuilt same. I have made personal interventions between the contending parties for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, but my efforts have been largely ignored by the parties to the crisis. I am also aware that many well-meaning Nigerians, Leaders of thought and Patriotic groups have also intervened at various times with the best of intentions to resolve the matter, but all their efforts were also to no avail. Still, I thank them.
On February 28, 2025, the supreme court, in a judgment in respect of about eight consolidated appeals concerning the political crisis in Rivers State, based on several grave unconstitutional acts and disregard of rule of law that have been committed by the Governor of Rivers State as shown by the evidence before it pronounced in very clear terms:
“a government cannot be said to exist without one of the three arms that make up the government of a state under the 1999 Constitution as amended. In this case the head of the executive arm of the government has chosen to collapse the legislature to enable him to govern without the legislature as a despot. As it is there is no government in Rivers State.”
The above pronouncement came after a catalogue of judicial findings of constitutional breaches against the Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Going Forward in their judgment, and having found and held that 27 members of the House who had allegedly defected
“are still valid members of Rivers State House of Assembly and cannot be prevented from participating in the proceedings of that House by the 8th Respondent (that is, the Governor) in cohorts with four members”
The Supreme Court then made some orders to restore the state to immediate constitutional democracy. These orders include the immediate passing of an Appropriation Bill by the Rivers State House of Assembly which up till now has not been facilitated.
Some militants had threatened fire and brimstone against their perceived enemy of the governor who has up till now NOT disowned them.
Apart from that both the House and the governor have not been able to work together.
Both of them do not realise that they are in office to work together for the peace and good governance of the state.
The latest security reports made available to me show that between yesterday and today there have been disturbing incidents of vandalization of pipelines by some militant without the governor taking any action to curtail them. I have, of course given stern order to the security agencies to ensure safety of lives of the good people of Rivers State and the oil pipelines.
With all these and many more, no good and responsible President will standby and allow the grave situation to continue without taking remedial steps prescribed by the Constitution to address the situation in the state, which no doubt requires extraordinary measures to restore good governance, peace, order and security.
In the circumstance, having soberly reflected on and evaluated the political situation in Rivers State and the Governor and Deputy Governor of Rivers State having failed to make a request to me as President to issue this proclamation as required by section 305(5) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, it has become inevitably compelling for me to invoke the provision of section 305 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State with effect from today, 18th March, 2025 and I so do.
By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs Ngozi Odu and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months.
In the meantime, I hereby nominate Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas (Rtd) as Administrator to take charge of the affairs of the state in the interest of the good people of Rivers State. For the avoidance of doubt, this declaration does not affect the judicial arm of Rivers State, which shall continue to function in accordance with their constitutional mandate.
The Administrator will not make any new laws. He will, however, be free to formulate regulations as may be found necessary to do his job, but such regulations will need to be considered and approved by the Federal Executive Council and promulgated by the President for the state.
This declaration has been published in the Federal Gazette, a copy of which has been forwarded to the National Assembly in accordance with the Constitution. It is my fervent hope that this inevitable intervention will help to restore peace and order in Rivers State by awakening all the contenders to the constitutional imperatives binding on all political players in Rivers State in particular and Nigeria as a whole.
Long live a united, peaceful, secure and democratic Rivers State in particular and the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a whole.
The Plateau state government has expressed concern over violence in Shimankar (Menkaat), Shendam Local Government Area, of the State which unfortunately caused unnecessary tension within the community.
In a statement by the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Hon Joyce Lohya Ramnap, made available to journalists in Jos, it condemned in strongest terms and warned such violence would not be tolerated any longer.
The statement called for dialogue to differences and disagreement before it snowballed into violence, adding that government will not allow anyone to undermine peace and unity of the State.
Part of the statement read: “I want to reiterate the Plateau State Government’s unwavering commitment to upholding peace and security for all citizens, especially during such tense moments.”
Acknowledging the swift response of law enforcement agencies and the traditional institutions in containing the situation, we are calling for even greater collaboration between community leaders, security agencies, and the public to prevent further escalation,thus the need to maintain peace, calm and restraint from all parties.
“We urge the people of the community to pursue peaceful resolutions to any disagreements instead of resorting to violence.”
In line with the administration’s “Time is Now” vision under the leadership of Governor Mutfwang, I want to emphasise that the state is focused on ensuring lasting peace and harmony, irrespective of religious or tribal differences.
Government is also assuring the public that security agencies have been instructed to conduct a thorough investigation into the root causes of the skirmishes and to ensure that those responsible for any breach of public peace are held accountable.
Towards this end, Plateau citizens are to remain vigilant yet peaceful and to actively support all efforts to de-escalate the situation as the State Government is committed to fostering a peaceful coexistence for all citizens, the statement further reads.
As protest rocks Benue State against the Chief Judge, Justice Maurice Ikpembese for relocating the Benue Local Government Election Petitions Tribunal from Makurdi to Abuja, Governor Hyacinth Alia has distanced himself from the protest.
Protesters in their hundreds from Benue State took to the streets of Abuja on Monday, for a peaceful protest from the National Assembly to the Supreme Court to express their outrage over the Benue CJ’s decision.
Prior to Monday’s massive protest Justice Ikpembese raised security concerns and moved the Tribunal to Abuja, a development that triggered protest as they are saying the Tribunal would have remained in Makurdi for them to monitor proceedings.
The tribunal is currently handling disputes arising from the Benue State Local Government elections conducted on October 5, 2024.
Reports indicate that 93 petitioners, including aggrieved candidates from both the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, have filed cases at the tribunal since October 17, 2024.
The Benue State Government, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Public Order, Mr. Fidelis Mnyim, had questioned the CJ’s unilateral decision, noting that neither the governor nor his office had been formally notified.
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