Court fines police ₦15m for disrupting El-Rufai, others’ political meetings

A Kaduna State High Court has ordered the Nigeria Police Force to pay ₦15 million in damages for unlawfully disrupting political meetings attended by former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, and chieftains of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Murtala J. Zubairu held that the police acted outside their constitutional and statutory powers by stopping the political gatherings held on August 30 and September 4, 2025, in Kaduna. The court also granted a perpetual injunction restraining the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, his officers, and agents from interfering with lawful political activities in the state.

The disrupted meetings, which involved El-Rufai and other political leaders, were first halted by thugs in the presence of police officers and later by the police themselves, who claimed to be acting on an ex parte injunction obtained in the suit marked KDH/KAD/NPD/1315/2025 between the Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State, and the ADC and SDP.

In his ruling, Justice Zubairu dismissed the police suit for being incompetent and an abuse of court process. He declared that the actions of the police in suspending and prohibiting lawful assemblies violated Sections 4, 83, and 84 of the Police Act, 2020, as well as Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees citizens the right to freedom of assembly and association.

The court further declared that the ex parte interim injunction obtained by the police was improperly granted and infringed on the fundamental rights of the defendants. Justice Zubairu ruled that the police’s attempt to impose a blanket ban on political meetings based on unverified intelligence amounted to selective enforcement and an abuse of power.

Consequently, the judge set aside the ex parte injunction of September 4, 2025, for procedural irregularities and lack of merit. He also directed the police to investigate the reported violence that occurred on August 30, 2025, and to submit their findings to the Kaduna State Attorney-General within 60 days.

In awarding ₦15 million in compensatory, general, aggravated, and exemplary damages to the defendants, Justice Zubairu described the police action as a clear breach of fundamental rights, wrongful injunction, and violation of statutory duty.

He stressed that the police are duty-bound to protect lawful gatherings rather than suppress them and cautioned that any future interference with legitimate political activities would attract severe legal consequences.