This Nigerian human rights lawyer wins second order of restraint against government · Global Voices
<PERSON> is a human rights lawyer and host of the law radio show, “House of Justice,” based in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Photo screenshot via Bridgewater State University/IREX/DC.
Lawyer <PERSON> was granted an interim court order by Kaduna State High Court in Kaduna, Nigeria, on January 15, 2020, that prohibits the government from arresting her. This order came after <PERSON> filed a motion for her “fundamental rights,” — including freedom of expression and human dignity — under Order IV, Rule 4 of the constitution.
This interim order is the second of its kind issued against her arrest.
Photo of <PERSON>, human rights lawyer, courtesy of <PERSON>.
<PERSON> is a principal partner at Mive Legals in Kaduna State with a focus on human rights. She is also a columnist and chief executive officer of the “House of Justice,” a human rights call-in radio program, who has written articles critical of the Kaduna State government.
<PERSON> has experienced ongoing intimidation and harassment by Kaduna State Governor <PERSON> and his administration, amid a growing crackdown on freedom of expression and dissent in Nigeria.
Between November and December 2019, officers from the Nigerian police force in Kaduna State visited her office in Barnawa, Kaduna. According to her detailed Facebook post, she was harassed, threatened and intimidated since November 28, 2019, when the visits began:
Since 28 November, 2019, the police have laid siege on the office of House of Justice, in Barnawa, Kaduna, reportedly in search of me. House of Justice is a public interest advocacy and legal service centre in Kaduna, Nigeria. I lead its advocacy work. Over the past decade, I have established and practised Law from Kaduna. On that day, three hefty men, claiming to be from the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Kaduna reportedly showed up on Thursday, 28 November, 2019 and requested for me. 926
My colleagues in chambers informed them that I had gone out.
<PERSON> wrote that according to the Kaduna State police command, they made visits to her office after they received a petition by Engr <PERSON>, a private citizen, that listed <PERSON> as a “notorious criminal.”
Gaiya originally sent the petition to the office of the executive governor of Kaduna State on October 20, 2019, cataloging 40 years of “criminal attacks on life and property,” and asked for investigations into 20 listed persons and organizations, including “<PERSON>. <PERSON>,” listed Number 13.
<PERSON> denies any knowledge of <PERSON>. Her lawyers obtained a copy of the petition that was also reviewed with Global Voices for verification.
<PERSON> told Global Voices via Whatsapp on January 20, 2020:
The petition was written to the governor’s office and copied to the [All Progressives Congress Party] APC ruling chairman and police. The petition was not addressed to the police. How do they act on an allegation they were merely copied into? The petition [cites complaints that I am] 40 years old and I am in my mid-30s. How spurious and laughable does it get. Yet I, my colleagues and family was subjected to incalculable psychological torture. I couldn’t work. I had to leave the state until I obtained the court interim order.
When <PERSON>’s lawyer made further inquiries into the petition and the reason for the visits, the police then delivered <PERSON> an interrogation request letter citing “criminal breach of trust and cheating” on December 18.
<PERSON> told Global Voices in the Whatsapp interview that this letter did not clarify who made the complaints or establish any facts. A photo of the letter obtained by <PERSON>'s lawyers was viewed by Global Voices for verification.
Fearing for her safety and security, the ordeal prompted <PERSON> to file a motion ex parte against the inspector general of police, commissioner of police and government of Kaduna State, on January 7, 2020.
On January 15, 2020, Kaduna State High Court granted an interim order preventing Governor <PERSON> from arresting her.
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Ongoing harassment and intimidation
In 2016, <PERSON> was first threatened with arrest and persecution by Governor <PERSON>, for a November 28 article titled, “Kaduna: When government kills,” that <PERSON> wrote for her weekly law column in Blueprint Newspaper (which has since been removed).
“Villages live in misery. 600