A KANO-BASED retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Bello Ahmed, has been accused of taking the law into his hands, violating court orders and disregarding all legal means.
This was revealed by one Adam Ali Zaki, who said the retired AIG brought thugs into his residence, disturbed the peace of his family and vandalized the house.
All these were done against a subsisting order of a Kano High Court which restrained him from doing any of the acts done.
Counsel to Mr Zaki, Barrister B. Y. Gambo, told this newspaper that trouble started when Mr. Ahmed attempted to recover the premises of his house at No. 285 Mundubawa Avenue, Bompai, Kano, which was leased to his client till 2026.
According to Gambo, “Mr Bello Ahmed of No 15B, Mundubawa in Kano leased his house to Adam Ali Zaki for five and half years (from June 1, 2021 to October 31, 2026) at the rate of N4.4 million. The lease agreement was signed and executed by all the parties.
“But surprisingly, last year after a minor family dispute, my client received a letter from a lawyer asking to quit the house in seven days. We replied the lawyer, intimating him of a pending lease. I attached a copy of the lease agreement and receipt of payment.
“But they continued to threaten my client. So, we approached the court, first to validate the lease. We filed a suit at the High Court. They could not even respond as they did not have a defense. They just conceded to the suit and judgement was entered in favour of my client.
“They kept quiet after that, until this year around July when they started bringing people they claimed were prospective buyers of the house. I called the lawyer again to remind him that the lease was still pending. When he refused to call his client to order, we used Daily Trust newspaper to publish a Caveat that House No 285, at Mundubawa Avenue was subject of a pending lease which will expire in October, 2026 as declared by a Court in a 2022 suit.
“It was possible that they went ahead to sell the house, but our client was not informed. But, when I realized that the threat to my client was becoming so unbearable, I filed another case before the High Court to interpret the contents of the four documents we have: the lease agreement dated 1st June 2021 and to expire on the 31st of October, 2026; receipt of evidence of payment of N4.4 million to cover the period of the lease; judgement Kano State High Court in Suit No. K/400/2022 validating the lease dated 14th December, 2022; and the caveat emptor published in Daily Trust newspaper.
“We wanted the court to determine whether they can sell and eject my client despite all these documents. The court ruled that they can not and should not.
“The court on the 8th of September 15, 2023 also granted our ex-parte motion to restrain the former AIG from disturbing the peaceful enjoyment of our client. We served them with the court order.
He said the “worst nightmare was that on Tuesday last week in broad daylight, they brought thugs to the house and removed the roofing, windows, vandalized the place and stole my client’s belongings including a Rolex wristwatch.
“We reported this to the police and they intervened. The next day, my client replaced the roofing and the windows.”
When contacted, one of the children of the retired AIG by name Abubakar said he would get back to our reporter but has not called back as of the time this report was published.
NIGERIAN SKETCH