Abacha’s family challenges revocation of Abuja land

The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, fixed 27 June for judgment in a suit by the family of the late Nigerian military ruler, Sani Abacha, challenging the revocation of his property in the Maitama District of Abuja.

The judge, Peter Lifu, fixed the date for judgement after the lawyer to the family of the late dictator, Reuben Atabo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and those of the defendants led by James Onoja, also a SAN, adopted their processes and argued their case for and against the suit.

Mr Abacha, the partriach of the Abacha family, was a constant feature during the the dark era of military regimes between the 1980s and 1990s, variously serving as the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff and the Minister of Defence, until he became the Head of State in 1993.

Mr Abacha, a general, seized power from the interim national government of Ernest Shonekan on 17 November 1993 and ruled Nigeria until he died at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on 8 June 1998.

The developed piece of land in question was revoked from the family in 2006, about eight years after Mr Abacha died in office.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suit was instituted by the widow of the late Mr Abacha, Maryam Abacha, and her eldest surviving son, Mohammed Sani Abacha.

The defendants in the suit are the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT); Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA); President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, and Salamed Ventures Limited as 1st to 4th respectively.

The applicants asked the court to set aside the purported revocation of the certificate of occupancy (CoO) of the property of the late Abacha located in the Maitama District.

The C of O marked FCT/ABUKN 2478 covering Plot 3119, issued on June 25, 1993, was said by the family to have been illegally and unlawfully revoked by the defendants.
 

How it began

In their statement of claims, the Abacha family said that the FCT, under Nasir El-Rufai, had instructed them to submit the C of O in their possession for re-certification.

They claimed that the 2nd plaintiff, Mohammed Sani Abacha, promptly complied with the directive by delivering the C of O to the FCDA and acknowledgement copy issued to him.

While waiting for a new C of O to be issued to them, Mohammed Abacha said he received a letter on 3 February 2006, notifying them that the C of O had been revoked without any reason adduced in the letter.

Besides the failure to give any reason for the revocation, the Abacha family alleged that adequate compensation was not paid as required by law.
 

Prayers

The family therefore asked the court to declare as unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal, null and void and of no effect, the purported revocation of the property.

They sought an order of the court setting aside the purported revocation and holding that their CoO is valid and subsisting having been revoked without payment of adequate compensation.

According to them, the Certificate of Occupancy issued to the late Head of State was maliciously revoked without legal basis or justification

The plaintiffs asked for an order of injunction prohibiting the defendants from taking any further step on the disputed revocation.

Similarly, they prayed to award N500 million as damages to be paid to them by the four defendants.
 

Defence

However, the defendants in their separate counter-affidavits and preliminary objections, asked for outright dismissal of the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/463/2016.

The defendants claimed that the suit at the time it was instituted had become statute barred having not been filed within time allowed by law, among other arguments.

Although, some of the defendants were not in court at Wednesday’s proceedings, the judge, Mr Lifu invoked the rule of the court in adopting their processes already filed.
 

Abacha

Mr Abacha ruled Nigeria with an iron fist between 1993 and 1998, when he suddenly died in office.

He seized power on 17 November 1993 after he dislodged the Ernest Shonekan-led interim government installed by the regime of Ibrahim Babangida.

Premium Times

Worshippers locked in Nigeria mosque and set on fire

At least 11 worshippers have been killed and dozens others injured after a man attacked a mosque in Nigeria's northern Kano state, police say.

A man allegedly sprayed the mosque with petrol and locked its doors before setting it on fire, trapping about 40 worshippers, they said.

The attack was triggered by a family dispute over the sharing of inheritance.

Police say they have arrested a 38-year-old suspect.

The incident happened when people were attending morning prayers on Wednesday in Gezawa area of Kano state.

Residents said flames engulfed the mosque after the attack with worshippers heard wailing as they struggled to open the locked doors.

After hearing the explosion, neighbours rushed to help those trapped inside, local media reported.

Rescue teams including bomb experts from Kano were immediately deployed in response to the attack, a police statement said.

Police later confirmed that a bomb was not used in the attack.

The Fire Service in Kano said they were not called immediately the fire started, adding that they could have brought the situation under control much faster.

Kano Fire Service spokesman Saminu Yusuf told the BBC that they got reports of the incident after locals had put out the fire.

“In a situation like this, people are supposed to call us but we didn't get any call from the location until after normalcy had returned,” Mr Yusuf added.

Police said the suspect confessed that his actions were part of a dispute over inheritance, claiming he was targeting some family members who were inside the mosque.

“What happened is not associated with any act of terrorism, rather it was a skirmish that arose as a result of inheritance distribution," Umar Sanda, a local police chief, told journalists after visiting the scene.

"It is really unfortunate,” Mr Sandahe added.

“The suspect is presently with us and is giving out useful information."

Initial reports said one worshipper had died from the attack but the death toll later rose after more victims died while receiving treatment at the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital in Kano.

More victims, including children, are still receiving treatment at the hospital, according to police.

By Wycliffe Muia & Mansur Abubakar, BBC

Gunmen kidnap 9 students in Nigeria

At least nine students have been abducted by gunmen during a late-night raid on their school in northern Nigeria’s Kogi state, authorities said Friday, the third such abduction amid rampant kidnappings targeting schools in the conflict-hit region this year.

The assailants invaded the Confluence University of Science and Technology in Kogi state, which neighbors the nation’s capital, Abuja, and whisked away the students from their classrooms before security forces could arrive, according to Kogi Commissioner for Information Kingsley Femi Fanwo.

The state has “activated the security architecture to track the kidnappers and ensure the abducted students are rescued and the abductors apprehended,” Fanwo added.

The official said local hunters were helping security forces in “combing” the school area, which is surrounded by bushes in the remote Osara town.

Nigeria has struggled with several mass school kidnappings since the first such incident in 2014 when Islamic extremists abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from the northeastern Chibok village, sparking the global #BringBackOurGirls social media campaign.

A t least 1,400 Nigerian students have since been abducted from their schools in similar circumstances, including at least 130 children abducted from their school in Kuriga town in the northern Kaduna state in March. Some are still held captive, including nearly 100 of the Chibok girls.

By Chinedu Asadu, AP

Related story: Video - Gunmen abduct over 100 people in Zamfara state, Nigeria

 

Nigeria warns international schools against dollar fees

The government of Nigeria is threatening dire consequences for any international school registered in the country found charging fees in dollars or any other foreign currency.

The move aims to protect the local unit, the naira, from further erosion – a difficult few years with currency fluctuation that has affected the entire country.

The country’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission says it is monitoring the more than 70 international schools across Nigeria, already accusing some of them of levying tuition fees in dollars.

Over the last few months the American International of Abuja has been embroiled in a row in which a former state governor in 2021 allegedly paid $845,000 to the school in tuition fees.

The allegations compelled the EFCC to intervene, asking the school to refund the money paid by former Kogi state governor Yahaya Bello – ten years’ school fees for his children to study at the institution.

Charging of fees in dollars and other international currencies by the international schools amounted to a criminal offence, warned the EFCC, and the ban was meant to stop the ‘dollarisation’ of the Nigerian economy.

“Everyone knows that it is illegal to charge in other denominations apart from the naira. Whether in Chinese or American currency, any transaction that is not denominated in naira in Nigeria, the EFCC is against it,” Ola Olukoyede, EFCC’s Chairman, said – adding that all financial transactions in the country must be made using the local unit.

The agency he revealed would clamp down on schools – and anyone else – charging foreign currencies, including hotels, some of the other institutions guilty of attempted ‘dollarisation’ of the economy. The move was meant to ensure that the naira remained Nigeria’s legal tender, he added.

Likening charging of fees in dollars to racketeering, he disclosed that as part of efforts to address the problem and stabilise the naira, which has constantly lost value since late 2022, a task force has been set up to crack down on the issue.

“The EFCC is working to ensure that those breaking the rules find their way back to the right path, so that the wrath of the law will not be on them,” the Chairman added.

The ban is extended to private universities, and the National Universities Commission (NUC) has reiterated that no tertiary institution was allowed to charge tuition fees in dollars – save for when institutions are dealing with international students, according to Executive Secretary Chris Maiyaki, citing the issue earlier in the year.

He cautioned that no law in the country allowed payment of tuition in foreign denominations, adding that alleged cases of dollarisation of tuition fees were under investigation.

In February, the EFCC summoned the proprietors of private universities and schools alleged to have been charging tuition in dollars as part of the agency’s efforts to address “forex racketeering”.

Charging in excess of $10,000 in tuition fees, international schools are popular among the Nigerian elite, due to the belief that the education curriculum they offer – such as the British system – boosts chances for studying in universities abroad.

Sustained devaluation of the naira has also left Nigerian students abroad struggling to pay their tuition fees on time, besides generally affecting the economy back home, compelling some foreign businesses to price their services in foreign currencies.

At least 41 of the 70 international schools in Nigeria are situated in the commercial capital Lagos.

By Maina Waruru, The Pie News

Terrorists attack military camp, kill five soldiers, injure 11 others in Nigeria

Five soldiers of the Nigerian Army were killed and 11 others injured on Sunday afternoon by terrorists who attacked a military camp in Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

A member of a vigilante group, Aliyu Tukur, 30, was also killed in the attack, according to a military internal memo seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

“Terrorist attack on military camp causing grievous hurt and death of military personnel,” the memo stated.

According to the memo, the incident occurred at about 2 p.m. on Sunday when over 200 terrorists armed with sophisticated weapons and led by a terrorism kingpin, Ado Aleiru, attacked the military camp situated at the village of Yar Malamai.

“On receipt of the information, Supol Faskari, proceeded to the scene with his team and engaged the bandits on a gun battle as reinforcement (of) Air Components were also called upon and responded promptly.

“The battle lasted for over two hours after intervention from the Air Force; sadly five soldiers and one vigilante by name Aliyu Tukur, 30 years (old), of the same address, lost their lives.

“Eleven soldiers sustained different degrees of gunshot injuries, all the injured were rushed to hospital by the military, all the corpses were also removed.

“The attack led to the withdrawal of all the remaining military personnel from the village to a nearby camp 25 kilometres away situated at Ali Kere village due to heavy casualty recorded.

“The bandits also suffered heavy casualties but have succeeded in removing them away from the scene (sic). Residents of the area are currently migrating.

“Investigation has commenced further development would be communicated above for your information, please,” the internal memo stated. 

By Abubakar Ahmadu Maishanu, Premium Times

Related story: Gunmen abduct over 100 people in Zamfara state, Nigeria