Setting the records: Why Sani Dauda was arrested by the police

Recently the media was awash with news alleging the illegal arrest of a former Chairman of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Dauda and others by the Nigeria Police Force. In fact, the story which was attributed to Nasiba Sani Dauda, attempted to question the basis for the arrest of Alhaji Sani Dauda, her father, who […]

Recently the media was awash with news alleging the illegal arrest of a former Chairman of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, Alhaji Sani Dauda and others by the Nigeria Police Force. In fact, the story which was attributed to Nasiba Sani Dauda, attempted to question the basis for the arrest of Alhaji Sani Dauda, her father, who had only recently given her out in marriage to one Abdullahi Kaloma. The story went on to cast aspersions on the person and character of her estranged husband, Alhaji Abubakar Musa.

It is pertinent to note however, that the writer did not tell the public the entire story leading to the illegal arrest and arraignment of Alhaji Sani Dauda and others.

One of the things Nasiba Sani Dauda failed to apprise the public is that Alhaji Abubakar Musa has since 2016 till date been legally married to her. However, sometime in 2018, she surreptitiously obtained a dissolution order from Grade 1 Sharia Court, Tudun Wada, which was later vacated by an Upper Sharia Court, Kawo, Kaduna, on grounds of lack of jurisdiction on the part of the lower court. This effectively means that the dissolution was therefore null and void and of no effect, and that the couple were still legally married. Although, the Upper Sharia Court judgment was subsequently appealed by Nasiba Sani Dauda at the Sharia Court of Appeal, Kaduna, the case and a similar one filed by her at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, are still pending.

Surprisingly, in spite of the pending cases in court, Nasiba Sani Dauda was secretly given out in marriage to Abdullahi Kaloma by her father in clear violation of section 384 (1) of the Penal Code, which criminalizes such conduct. It is for this reason that her estranged husband, put up a petition through his Counsel, Rilwanu Umar & Co., to the Police Command Headquarters, Kaduna, alleging inter-alia: criminal conspiracy, assault, wrongful confinement, wrongful restraint, force imprisonment, voluntarily causing harm, enticement of a married woman, bigamy, remarried with concealment from former marriage, contrary to the provisions of the Penal Code. For the avoidance of doubt, Sections 384, 385 and 389 of the Penal Code law are quite explicit on these infractions. Sections 385, for instance, notes that anybody who remarries with concealment of former marriage shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to a fine.

It is instructive to note also that one Usman Abdullahi Tela, a Good Samaritan and an honest Nigerian, who had in the discharge of his civic duty, tried to draw the attention of Alhaji Sani Dauda and others to the illegality inherent in their action of getting Nasiba, a married woman, married to another man, was bruised, battered and illegally locked up in a room. Is this not also a criminal act deserving of Police action?

Available records clearly show that Alhaji Musa is certainly not the first victim of this organized blackmail by the Alhaji Sani Dauda’s family. But shall this infamy be allowed to continue? Enough is enough!

It is, therefore, against the above backdrop that Alhaji Sani Dauda and others in connection with the matter were, following the outcry from Alh. Abubakar Musa, invited by the Kaduna State Police Command for questioning.

Let it suffice to state that I have known Alhaji Abubakar Musa for over three decades, as a peace loving man that cannot hurt a fly. It is exactly for this reason that I feel it is my humble duty to set the records straight and correct the jaundiced impression which the write-up may have created in the minds of the innocent public. It is my humble plea therefore that rather than engage in media warfare and pull-him-down syndrome, the writer, Nasiba Sani Dauda and her father should allow the due process of the law take its course.

Alhaji Zubairu Muktar, Kaduna State