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El-Rufai’s wife seeks International Community’s intervention as former Governor spends 150 days in detention
…Says husband’s 150-day detention threatens Rule of Law
Asia Ahmad El-Rufai, a lawyer and wife of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has appealed to the international community to intervene over what she described as her husband’s prolonged detention.
She argued that his continued incarceration represents “punishment before trial” and poses a threat to Nigeria’s democratic institutions.
In a public statement issued to mark what she described as the 150th day of El-Rufai’s detention and published on the African Report, Asia said she was speaking “not as a politician, lawyer or diplomat, but as a wife, a mother and a Nigerian woman asking that the country my husband served for so many years remember its own conscience.”
Reflecting on the length of her husband’s detention, she wrote: “On the 150th day of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai’s detention, I ask readers outside Nigeria to pause over what that number means. One hundred and fifty days is not a legal phrase. It is five months of missed meals, missed prayers, missed proper mourning of his deceased mother, missed family conversations, interrupted medical care and moments we can never recover.”
She acknowledged that her husband had long been a controversial political figure, having served as head of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and Governor of Kaduna State.
“My husband is no stranger to controversy or public scrutiny. He has spent more than two decades in public life – as head of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, minister of the Federal Capital Territory and governor of Kaduna State. He has been praised, criticised, loved and opposed. That is democracy. But what is happening to him today is not democracy, and it is not accountability. It is punishment before trial,” she said.
Asia alleged that her husband’s ordeal began with “the attempted airport interception, when security officials seized his passport without a warrant and assaulted his aide in public view.”
According to her, El-Rufai voluntarily honoured an invitation from authorities after being summoned but was subsequently detained despite what she described as promises of bail.
“There was the sudden invitation, his voluntary appearance before the authorities, and the promise of bail that existed on paper but not in freedom. There was the night he was moved between locations without warning and without the dignity of allowing his family to know where he was being taken,” she stated.
She also claimed that the former governor became seriously ill while in custody.
“I still remember the helplessness of hearing that he had fallen gravely ill in custody, bleeding from his nose and mouth, while those responsible for his welfare were reluctant to provide the care any person deserves. I remember the anxiety of trying to get his medication to him and wondering whether officials would accept it.”
Describing the emotional toll on the family, she said: “These are not abstract violations. They are the moments that chip away at a family’s resolve and hope. Behind every headline about ‘charges’ and ‘investigations’, there is a family waiting, praying and trying not to imagine the worst.”
While insisting that no public official should be above the law, she argued that the legal process should be conducted fairly and transpaently.
“Let me be clear: I do not ask that my husband be placed above the law. No public official should be immune from scrutiny. If the state believes it has evidence, let it be presented before an impartial court, openly and fairly. But justice cannot be selective. It cannot be pursued through overlapping charges, repeated detention, impossible bail conditions, and public humiliation designed to persuade the nation of guilt before a judge has heard the case.”
She further argued that recent public discussions had raised concerns that Nigeria, alongside some other African countries, was “drifting from accountability into lawfare – the use of legal processes, judicial procedures and state institutions as political weapons.”
“The concern is not whether former officials may be investigated; they can and should be. The concern is whether the law is being applied neutrally or deployed against those who have fallen out of political favour,” she said.
According to Asia, her husband’s disagreement with President Bola Tinubu’s administration and his departure from the ruling All Progressives Congress should not justify what she described as prolonged persecution.
“My husband’s case has become a test of that distinction. His political rupture with President Bola Tinubu’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and his refusal to surrender his independent voice should not make him a target for indefinite punishment or detention disguised as prosecution.”
She also criticised what she described as the complexity of the legal proceedings against El-Rufai.
“The legal architecture surrounding him is bewildering even to trained observers: multiple charges in different courts, overlapping allegations, shifting statutory theories and duplicated claims arising from the same alleged events. If one application for bail is made and the conditions are met, another accusation can be filed the next day. If one judge must consider freedom, another process can be used to delay it.
“This is how judicial procedure becomes premeditated punishment. This is how we have arrived at 150 days of unjust detention.”
Asia argued that the treatment was not limited to her husband, citing the cases of Joel Adoga, Jimi Lawal and Professor Abubakar Bello.
She said Joel Adoga, whom she described as a former public servant and family breadwinner, had endured prolonged detention, including a month in solitary confinement, while Jimi Lawal had reportedly suffered severe health deterioration during custody.
She also referred to “the 7 July arrest and detention of Professor Abubakar Bello, Mallam’s personal physician, with similar impossible bail conditions.”
“These men are beloved family members and Nigerian citizens. These men are not case files. Their families are not collateral damage to be ignored in the pursuit of a political vendetta,” she said.
Appealing to Nigeria’s diplomatic and development partners, Asia urged foreign governments, multilateral organisations and international human rights groups not to ignore the situation.
“This is why I am appealing to Nigeria’s diplomatic and development partners: do not look away. Those who invest in Nigeria’s democracy, security cooperation, anti-corruption institutions, health systems and development programmes have a legitimate interest in whether those institutions respect due process and human dignity.”
She added: “A country cannot receive international support while using ostensibly democratic institutions to annihilate opposition political voices.”
She called on foreign missions, multilateral organisations, human rights groups and democracy advocates to “monitor this case closely; insist on transparent proceedings before competent and impartial courts; demand humane detention conditions and timely medical access; and make it clear that anti-corruption enforcement must never become a cover for political payback.”
Addressing President Tinubu directly, Asia urged him to allow the judicial process to proceed fairly.
“To President Tinubu, I say this with respect and sorrow: history is rarely kind to leaders who allow power to wound the innocent in order to silence the inconvenient. A strong government does not fear a strong critic.”
She added: “If my husband is credibly accused, let him face the accusations with access to his legal team, his doctors and his family. Let the evidence speak in court, not through orchestrated leaks of falsehood.”
Concluding her appeal, Asia argued that the case extends beyond her husband’s personal circumstances.
“Nigeria’s friends must understand that this case is larger than Nasir El-Rufai. It is about whether a citizen can fall out with power and still be protected by law. It is about whether courts will be places of justice or theatres of intimidation.”
She concluded by saying: “I do not ask the world to decide my husband’s innocence. I ask only that it stand for the principles Nigeria and its constitution have promised to uphold. Fairness, due process, humane treatment, judicial independence and equal protection before the law are not partisan demands. They are the bare conditions of any democratic society.”
A 29-year-old Nigerian man, James Abiwon, has died after a tree fell on his car during Storm Boelo in Mill Hill, north London.
According to Metro UK, Abiwon was driving along Dollis Road at about 12:30 p.m. on Sunday when the tree fell amid strong winds.
Emergency services, including police officers, firefighters, paramedics and an air ambulance, rushed to the scene. However, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Abiwon’s cousin, Tyrrell Okolo, described him as “a master of everything” and a devoted family man.
The deceased worked as a technology sales executive and held a degree from the University of Essex. He was also a semi-professional footballer who played for Aldershot, a musician whose YouTube channel had about 40,000 viewers, and a mentor to many people, according to his cousin.
Abiwon had been preparing to celebrate his 30th birthday with a padel tournament. Following his death, the event will go ahead in his memory, with proceeds expected to support his family.
His close friend, 29-year-old Kwame Affum, said they had played padel together just two days before the fatal incident.
“I’m trying hard to get my head around this,” Affum told Metro UK.
He said a friend had messaged Abiwon shortly before the accident about money owed to him for the court booking, but he did not respond, prompting concern.
Affum described Abiwon as a sports enthusiast, a talented footballer and an Arsenal supporter. He also said the deceased had graduated with a first-class degree and recently received an award at work.
“He was full of energy and talent,” Affum said.
“He was going to celebrate his 30th birthday in two weeks. It just seems impossible this has happened.”
A witness who laid flowers at the scene told Metro UK that she heard a helicopter and went outside to discover that a fallen tree had blocked the road, with a car trapped beneath it.
According to the witness, Abiwon’s girlfriend and best friend arrived while rescue operations were still underway. They were reportedly shaking as they waited, hoping he would be rescued alive.
The witness said his aunts and other relatives arrived later and were inconsolable over his death.
She described Abiwon as someone who was clearly loved by many, adding that the community had lost one of its own.
Traffic on Dollis Road was reportedly heavy at the time of the incident, as roadworks on a nearby street had diverted more vehicles onto the road.
A neighbour whose home overlooks the scene expressed concern about the circumstances, saying: “If it had been 10 minutes later, it could have been me.”
The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to Dollis Road at about 12:40 p.m. on Sunday following reports that a tree had fallen onto a moving car.
The police said they were working with the local authority and coroner to establish the circumstances surrounding Abiwon’s death.
Storm Boelo brought wind gusts of up to 84 mph across parts of the United Kingdom over the weekend.
A 60-year-old man was also killed by a falling tree in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, while other people were injured in incidents linked to the storm.
The family of a 46-year-old businessman, Kayode Akinbolusere, popularly known as Tolufe, has raised questions over his death after he reportedly recorded a video shortly before allegedly taking his own life at his office in Igba, Ondo State.
Akinbolusere, the owner of Esther Estate in Ondo State, was said to have died on Thursday after allegedly ingesting a poisonous substance.
In a video that circulated on social media before his death, the businessman spoke about his struggles and said he was leaving his properties to his wife, Esther, and their three children based in Canada.
He also stated that he was making the decision voluntarily and that nobody had pressured him.
Akinbolusere said, “I am doing this video on behalf of my family. I, Akinbolusere Kayode, is doing my will on my property. I am doing this on my own; nobody put pressure on me. I woke up and left for work, leaving my family at home.”
“The first and second machines I was using at work developed a fault. I was imagining what was happening. When I started my business, I started from the scratch and was very transparent about it.”
“My wife knew how I suffered. She didn’t trouble me. I will all my properties to my wife, Akinbolusere Esther, who hails from Ekiti, and my three children who are in Canada.”
“My wife stood by me when I had nothing and never for once wronged me. She was very supportive when I had nothing, especially when I was working as a barber. I was the one who destroyed everything with carelessness.”
However, the deceased’s uncle, Femi Akinbolusere, said the family suspected that the businessman might have been forced to make the video.
In an interview with Saturday PUNCH, Femi said the manner in which the deceased spoke about “surrendering” his property raised questions that should be investigated by security operatives.
He said, “We are grieving, please. You heard all he said laughing that he surrendered. Is that a gift to anybody? Is that a will? As if somebody was behind his seat pointing a gun at him. How can somebody say I am surrendering everything to my wife and three children?”
“If security operatives look at the voice very well, won’t they find that some people were behind making him say what he was saying? Is it not that they placed a gun behind him?”
The uncle further urged the police to examine the video and investigate the circumstances surrounding the businessman’s final moments.
“That clip is enough to give them [the police] the clue. That word ‘surrender’, doesn’t it mean that they forced him? They just killed him. Somebody was behind him telling him to say this and that and he was saying it. This is terrible.”
“All those things he was saying, did he say he shared his property? Who is telling you to surrender anything? Somebody forcing you to surrender. People should look at it. Security operatives should look at it.”
“They said he should be laughing and he was laughing. They should go and conduct an autopsy for the body. He said he offended his wife. Who is that wife? Even if he goes ahead to have another wife, does it warrant for him to be killed? That wife should be called to answer so many questions.”
However, the Ondo State Police Command said preliminary findings did not show signs of foul play.
In a statement issued on Friday, the state police spokesperson, Abayomi Jimoh, said the command had commenced an investigation into the suspected suicide.
According to the statement, Akinbolusere, a resident of Road 7, Housing Estate, Igba, was found dead in his office beside BOVAS Petrol Station, Igba Town, at about 3 p.m. on Thursday.
“Upon receipt of the information, police operatives attached to Bolorunduro Division visited the scene, where two empty bottles suspected to have contained Sniper insecticide were recovered from a nearby bush.”
“Preliminary findings also revealed that the deceased had allegedly recorded a video before his death, which has since circulated on social media, in which he reportedly lamented about his life struggles.”
“His remains were subsequently evacuated and deposited at the State Hospital Morgue for preservation and further examination. No foul play or visible marks of violence were observed on his body at the time of examination,” the statement said. (Punch)
The driver of a bus conveying 20 prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) abducted in Imo state has identified five men standing trial over the incident as the suspects who attacked his vehicle and took the passengers hostage.
Testifying as the third prosecution witness, the driver told the state high court in Mgbidi, Imo state, on Friday that he recognised the men, especially the first defendant, who allegedly approached his bus with an AK-47 rifle.
He said the same defendant later marched the 20 prospective corps members into a nearby bush after the abduction.
Another prosecution witness, identified as Light Timothy, told the court that he saw two of the defendants carrying AK-47 rifles shortly after the abduction along the Owerri–Mgbidi–Onitsha expressway.
Timothy said he later identified the first and second defendants as members of the gang during an identification parade conducted at the state office of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Both witnesses testified at the resumed trial of five men accused of involvement in the abduction.
During cross-examination, defence counsel requested the driver’s identity card. Emeka Orafu, the presiding judge, confirmed that the photograph on the document bore a strong resemblance to the witness.
The driver’s identity card and the testimonies of both witnesses were subsequently admitted in evidence.
The defendants — Mohammed Ali, Usman Aliyu, Babangida Aliyu, Ibrahim Jiji and Aminu Haliru — were arraigned by the DSS over the abduction of 20 prospective corps members and a civilian.
The DSS had said three of the defendants — Aliyu, 25, also known as Chonge; Babangida, 21; and Ali, 23, also known as Smallie Pepper — were specifically charged with kidnapping the prospective corps members.
They are accused of conspiracy to commit hostage-taking under the Imo State Prohibition of Hostage Taking and Related Offences Law No. 4 of 2009.
The five men were also accused of unlawfully possessing three AK-47 rifles, four magazines, a pistol and 81 rounds of live ammunition.
The victims were abducted on October 1, when gunmen attacked two 18-seater buses conveying passengers from Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, to NYSC orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The attack occurred around 6:30 am near Umunoha in Mbaitoli LGA of Imo state.
Ten victims were rescued shortly after the incident, while the remaining abductees were freed on October 7 by a joint team of DSS, military and police operatives at Amakohia-Ubi forest in the state.
Five suspects were subsequently arrested in Rivers and Abia states between October 10 and 14, while three other suspects reportedly escaped during the operations with gunshot wounds.
At the end of Friday’s proceedings, the judge adjourned the trial to November 3, 4, 5 and 6, 2026, for continuation of the hearing.
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