The Court of Appeal Abuja division on Friday affirmed the judgment of Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, finding the Kaduna state government guilty of abducting the CEO Chocolate City, Audu Maikori, a music promoter from Lagos to Kaduna.
Audu Maikori is a lawyer and entrepreneur from Southern Kaduna was said to have been abducted from Lagos on the instruction of Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufa’i over social media posts.
The music promoter incurred the anger of the state government when he raised alarms over the Killings in Southern Kaduna, where he hails from.
The Government of Kaduna State claimed that Audu Maikori’s publications were inaccurate.
In a judgment delivered on Friday in Abuja, the three-person panel of the Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the findings of fact and conclusions of law of the Federal High Court, holding that the actions of the Kaduna State Government were both unlawful and unconstitutional.
The Court, however, reduced the damages awarded from N40 million to N10.5 million Naira.
Responding to the judgment, his lead counsel, Gloria Mabeiam Ballason, said: “This decision by the Court of Appeal is important for the protection of all persons in Nigeria.
“By today’s judgment, the Court of Appeal reaffirms the sanctity of the rights of citizens against abuse by the designs of temporal power and makes clear that politicians in government using security agencies at their disposal cannot pick and choose what parts of the constitution to obey or observe.”.
