‘Sore Loser!’ - Audu Maikori blasts El-Rufai over abduction remarks

Nigerian lawyer and entrepreneur Audu Maikori has criticised former Kaduna State governor Nasir El-Rufai over his remarks on the unlawful abduction and detention of citizens in Nigeria.

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Mr El-Rufai, in a post on his X page on Thursday, faulted the administration of President Bola Tinubu over what he described as a growing culture of unlawful detention in the country.

The post, which referenced a Daily Trust report on his comments at the 23rd Annual Trust Dialogue held at the Nigerian Air Force Conference Centre in Kado, Abuja, warned that such practices undermine democracy and erode public trust in government.

The 65-year-old argued that detention without enforcement must end.

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Violation

He stressed that holding individuals without due process violates fundamental human rights and contradicts the rule-of-law principles enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

However, responding to the former Federal Capital Territory minister’s post, the Chief Executive Officer of Chocolate City Entertainment in a tweet on his X page on Tuesday described Mr El-Rufai as a “sore loser”.

Mr Maikori, 50, recalled how Mr El-Rufai allegedly used the police to arrest and unlawfully detain him.

The social activist wrote: “Imagine Nasir El-Rufai of all people speaking about abductions when both the federal High court and the court of appeal ruled that your abduction of me in February and March of 2017 was illegal.

“What was my crime speaking out about your failure to safeguard the lives of your citizens in Kaduna and your clear bias against Southern Kaduna people. This statement is sour grapes; if you had gotten the ministerial position you lobbied desperately for, you would be singing praises of this same government. You are a sore loser, oga.”

Backstory

In 2017, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Maikori was arrested over tweets he posted about a deadly attack on his relatives in Southern Kaduna. These claims were later found to be inaccurate.

The newspaper reported that his lawyer, Mark Jacobs, disclosed that he was arrested in Lagos by police officers attached to the Inspector-General of Police’s Monitoring and Intelligence Unit and was immediately flown to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

Following the tweets, the Kaduna State College of Education in Gidan Waya, where Mr Maikori claimed students had been killed, refuted the account, stating that no students were lost in any such attack.

The Kaduna State Government also condemned the false information, while the journalist responsible for the Vanguard report that amplified the claims was arrested and charged.

On 4 February, amid sustained social media backlash, Mr Maikori deleted the tweets and issued a public apology in a detailed article explaining how he had been misled.

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However, in October 2017, the Federal High Court in Abuja awarded Mr Maikori N40 million in damages for his unlawful arrest and detention, The Punch reported.

In his ruling on the fundamental human rights enforcement suit filed by Mr Maikori on 5 May 2017, Justice John Tsoho ordered four respondents—including Mr El-Rufai and the Nigeria Police Force—to jointly pay the compensation.

The court also directed the respondents to pay N1,430 to Mr Maikori as the cost of filing the suit.