Alhaji Abdurrahman Darman Shugaba

Alhaji Shugaba was elected as a member of the then Borno State House of Assembly on the platform of the defunct Great Nigeria Peoples’ Party (GNPP) led by the late apostle of “politics without bitterness”, Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim. This was an era when the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was the ruling party at the federal level and the Ibadanborn political bigwig, Chief Augustus Meredith Adisa Akinloye sits atop the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the NPN as its National Chairman. Alhaji Shehu Shagari was the first civilian executive President at the time.

Shortly after democracy was enthroned on October 1, 1979, events began to unfold. Democracy was characterised by high political tension between the five parties at the time. There were massive intra and interparty bitterness. Actual violence pervaded in some states while in Kano, for instance, an uprising of fanatical sect known as Maitatsine riot broke out.

In Kaduna State, more than one year after the civilian administration of the then Governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa came on board, the Peoples’ Redemption Party (PDP) was unable to form a cabinet.

In Borno State, Shugaba, who emerged the majority leader in the state House of Assembly, had hardly settled down in the early hours of January 24, 1980, when some law enforcement agents and federal Immigration authorities broke to his residence in Maiduguri, and bundled him out of the country to the neighbouring Chad Republic. What was his offence? They alleged that he was a Chadian because his father was born in Chad Republic. They therefore stripped off his Nigerian citizenship .The term “Shugabize” became popular and notorious in Nigeria and was used to describe a condition where someone was deported from a country in which he had resided illegally. What the Shagari –led government and the ruling party did not say was that Shugaba had been a political thorn in their flesh in Borno State where the-then ruling NPN was a minority party.

Sensing that his fundamental right had been violated, he through his lawyer, Chief G.O.K Ajayi (SAN) filed an action at the Maiduguri High Court against the Minister of Internal Affairs, contending among others, that the order of deportation expelling him from the country was an infringement of his right guaranteed under Section 38 of the 1979 Constitution.

He also sought some declaratory reliefs that he was a citizen of Nigeria and he asked for an injunction restraining the Federal Government and its agents from interfering with his fundamental right to freedom of movement. Besides, the politician asked for compensatory damages against the respondent. His wives and children suffered untold psychological and physical pains as they sought to bring back home their sole breadwinner.

The case cited as Shugaba-v-Minister of Internal Affairs was an interesting and exciting matter in that it attracted the sympathy of the other opposition political parties to Shugaba’s cause and it also elicited the attention of the international community. Human rights groups and public affairs commentators equally decried the act and identified with the deportee’s struggle to seek justice against the government.

After the hearing of the suit, the court ruled that Shugaba was not an alien and it turned out that the old man was victim of political savagery of the ruling party. Shugaba’s Nigerian citizenship was later restored after a lengthy court battle, with N350, 000 costs and damages awarded to him in 1982. The matter later went on appeal to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court said that the conduct of the government was the unlawful deportation of Shugaba from the country without recourse to lawful process.

As a citizen, the apex court declared he was entitled to enjoy the right to freely move around and the right of entry into the country, adding that his forcible deportation to another country, therefore, was an infringement of both rights guaranteed under section 38 of the 1979 Constitution.

The lead judgement of the Supreme Court was read by Justice Coker (as he then was) and his verdict was supported by other four justices.

Although the court declared Shugaba’s deportation wrongful, the issue arose whether in addition to the incidental orders, the court could also award damages for infringement of rights guaranteed under Chapter IV of the 1979 Constitution.

Justice Coker said “no where in Chapter IV of the Constitution which provides for fundamental rights is there any specific provision for a claim in damages as a means of enforcing any of those rights. The only exception is under section 32(6) where infringement of the right to personal liberty can entitle a claimant to compensation and public apology from the appropriate authority or person.”

Referring to the power of the court to grant relief under Section 42(2), the court stated “Whilst this provision may authorise the court to make an “order” for damages where a cause of action justifying such an award is established, I do not agree that it can simpliciter be the basis for an action for damages in all cases of infringement of fundamental rights. No such cause of action based purely on Section 42 of the Constitution exists in my view except by way of compensation which can be expressed in monetary terms to obtain redress under Section 32.”

Immediately Shugaba returned to the country, he told Nigerians that he had forgiven the Shagari-led administration for the wrong done him.

Shugaba died on Wednesday, April 20, 2010 at the age of 80, and he left behind three wives and 29 children. He was a founding member of the PDP in which he was active as a party elder till he died.

Perhaps his greatest legacy remained his legal battle with the Federal Government challenging his deportation; this case has been used as relevant case law in numerous human rights trials in the country ever since. The judgement in itself was groundbreaking and has set a precedent for subsequent cases of human rights violation against the government.