A legal practitioner, Isah Hassan-Nalaraba, has filed a ₦610 million fundamental human rights violation lawsuit against a Nasarawa State High Court judge, Abdullahi Hassan-Shama, over alleged illegal detention and the forceful confiscation of his mobile phones.
The suit, filed on February 7 at the Federal High Court in Lafia with suit number FH/LF/FHR/6/2025, accuses Justice Hassan-Shama of violating Nalaraba’s rights during a court appearance at a High Court in Doma on February 5, 2025.
In an affidavit attached to the suit, dated February 11, Nalaraba stated that he had filed a motion requesting the judge to recuse himself from the case due to a perceived likelihood of bias.
He added that the judge, however, declined the motion, insisting on hearing both the application for recusal and the substantive suit.
In the substantive suit, Justice Abdullahi Hassan-Shama, the registrar of the Doma High Court, the Commissioner of Police, the Nigeria Police Force, and Dahiru Maruf, a police officer, are listed as first to fifth respondents, respectively.
According to Nalaraba, the judge’s decision and insistence prompted him to withdraw from the case.
He described the judge’s actions as unconstitutional and a violation of his fundamental rights under Sections 34, 35, 36, 37, and 41 of the 1999 Constitution and asked the court to declare that his arrest, detention, and phone confiscation were unconstitutional and a violation of his rights.
Nalaraba is seeking an order compelling the respondents to pay him ₦200 million in compensation for seizing his phones and depriving him of communication.
The orders sought include “An order of this Honourable Court directing and/or compelling the Respondents, jointly or severally, to pay as compensation to the Applicant the sum of ₦200,000,000.00 (Two Hundred Million Naira Only) for compulsorily seizing and confiscating the Applicant’s two GSM handsets, thereby depriving him of communication and access to family and friends without any legal justification.”
“An order compelling the Respondents to pay the sum of ₦150,000,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Million Naira Only) as exemplary damages for unconstitutionally and illegally arresting, detaining, and confiscating the Applicant’s GSM handsets, as well as for infringing on his rights under Sections 34(1), 35(3), 36(1), 37, 41(1), and 44(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and Articles 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
“General damages of ₦10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira Only) against the Respondents in favour of the Applicant.”
In a petition submitted earlier to the Nigerian Bar Association President, Afam Osigwe, the lawyer accused the judge of seizing his mobile phones and ordering his detention without provocation.
The case has been adjourned to April 29, 2025.
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