El Rufai
IGP asks court to dismiss El-Rufai’s N1bn suit over home search, justifies raid
The Inspector General of Police has urged a Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the rights enforcement suit filed by former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai, who is seeking N1 billion in compensation over the search of his residence.
El-Rufai is challenging the recent search on his Asokoro home by law enforcement agents, during which some items were allegedly recovered.
He has sued the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Chief Magistrate Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, the IGP, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF).
In a counter-affidavit, the IGP justified the search of El-Rufai’s home, accusing the former governor of attempting to use the suit as a shield against investigation and possible prosecution.
He argued that the police have statutory powers to detect, arrest, investigate, and prosecute offenders, adding that the search was carried out pursuant to a warrant issued by a competent court.
The IGP also rejected El-Rufai’s claim that the warrant was invalid, insisting it was lawfully issued and properly executed by officers who complied with all required legal procedures.
Proceedings on Wednesday were brief after El-Rufai’s lawyer, Ubong Akpan, told the court he had not responded to the counter-affidavit filed by the IGP, although he had replied to that of the ICPC. Without an objection from counsel to the ICPC and the IGP—Abdulsufianu Abubakar and Ezekiel Rimamsomte—Justice Joyce Abdulmalik adjourned the case till March 25 for hearing.
The judge also ordered hearing notices to be issued and served on the second respondent, a Chief Magistrate of the FCT, and the fourth respondent, the AGF, who were not represented in court.
El-Rufai is seeking a declaration that the search warrant issued on February 4 by a Chief Magistrate of the FCT, which authorised the search of his residence and seizure of items, was null and void.
He asked the court to nullify the warrant for “lack of particularity, material drafting errors, ambiguity in execution parameters, overbreadth, and absence of probable cause.”
The former governor argued that it amounted to an unlawful search in violation of Section 37 of the Constitution.
He further asked the court to declare that the search of his residence on February 19 by ICPC and police operatives violated his rights to dignity, personal liberty, fair hearing, and privacy under Sections 34, 35, 36, and 37 of the Constitution.
He is demanding N1 billion as general, exemplary, and aggravated damages for alleged violations of his fundamental rights, including trespass, unlawful seizure, psychological trauma, humiliation, distress, and reputational harm.
El-Rufai contended that the warrant was defective for failing to specify items to be seized and for containing drafting errors and ambiguous execution terms.
He argued that this contravened Sections 143-148 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 and Section 36 of the ICPC Act, which require that applications for search warrants be supported by sworn information stating reasonable grounds for suspicion and clearly describing the place to be searched and items sought.
According to him, the warrant failed to meet these requirements and its execution on February 19 resulted in an unlawful invasion of his residence and violation of his constitutional rights.
Hearing fixed for March 25.
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