By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Port Harcourt
A civil society group, Authentic Leaders Capacity Building Initiatives, has described the continued detention of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir Ahmad el‑Rufai, as a serious violation of constitutional rights and an assault on the psychological well-being of the detainee and his family.
The group, led by its coordinator, CHAPP Jumbo Jonathan, made the assertion in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, calling for immediate legal action to resolve the situation.
Jonathan said the prolonged detention of the former governor, allegedly without formal charges or a transparent judicial process, raises troubling questions about adherence to the rule of law in Nigeria.
According to him, the continued confinement has inflicted deep emotional and psychological strain not only on the detainee but also on his family and supporters.
“Such a posture by the authorities is not merely administrative excess; it is a profound assault on the psychological architecture of citizenship itself,” Jonathan said in the statement.
He added that families often endure what he described as the “suffocating trauma of uncertainty,” while detainees face the emotional toll associated with prolonged confinement and unresolved legal accusations.
The group argued that arbitrary detention undermines the constitutional covenant between the state and its citizens, stressing that personal liberty can only be curtailed through clearly defined legal procedures.
It cited several provisions of the 1999 Constitution, including the right to dignity of the human person, personal liberty, fair hearing, freedom of expression, and freedom of association, insisting that these guarantees must be respected by state authorities.
The organisation also referenced the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Nigeria has domesticated, noting that the charter reinforces protections against unlawful detention and violations of fundamental freedoms.
Authentic Leaders Capacity Building Initiatives therefore called on authorities to either formally charge el-Rufai before a competent court or release him without delay, warning that the continued detention risks eroding public trust in democratic institutions and the justice system.
