The Commissioner of Police, Adamawa State Command, and the Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Adamawa State Command, have reportedly defied a Federal High Court order directing the immediate release of 42 persons arrested in Mubi, Adamawa State.
Rather than comply with the judgment, the police and correctional authorities reportedly transferred the detainees from the correctional centre in Yola to Numan Prison, prompting the commencement of contempt proceedings against the two officials.
The 42 detainees were arrested on May 6, 2026, when officers of the Nigeria Police Force, Adamawa State Command, reportedly stormed Mubi Town and arrested them.
According to court documents, the detainees were handcuffed, bundled into police vehicles and transported more than 200 kilometres from Mubi to Yola without being informed of the reasons for their arrest or the offences they were alleged to have committed.
Upon arrival in Yola, they were detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Jimeta, before some of them were later transferred to the correctional centre in Yola.
The applicants said the police obtained a remand warrant from Chief Magistrate Court 2, Yola, on May 8, 2026, which was subsequently used to keep them in custody.
They, however, challenged the legality of the remand order, arguing that Mubi, where they were arrested, falls under the Mubi Magisterial District and is over 200 kilometres from Yola.
They contended that Chief Magistrate Court 2, Yola, lacked territorial jurisdiction to issue the remand order in respect of persons arrested in Mubi.
The detainees further alleged that since their arrest, the police had neither conducted an investigation into the alleged offence nor informed them of the specific offence they were accused of committing.
They also said they had not been charged or arraigned before any court of competent jurisdiction despite spending almost three months in detention.
According to the applicants, repeated requests for bail, made orally and through their relatives, were rejected by the police on the grounds that they had been arrested and detained pursuant to an executive order allegedly issued by Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.
The detainees, through their lawyer, Abubakar Ali, Esq., subsequently filed Suit No. FHC/YL/CS/16/2026 at the Federal High Court, Yola Division, seeking the enforcement of their fundamental rights.
The suit was filed against the Commissioner of Police, Adamawa State Command; the Controller, Nigerian Correctional Service, Adamawa State Command; and the Attorney General of Adamawa State.
In a judgment delivered on July 23, 2026, the Federal High Court ruled in favour of the applicants and declared their arrest and continued detention illegal, unconstitutional, null and void.
The court held that the arrest and continued detention of the applicants without confronting them with the facts and reasons for their arrests, without charge and without arraignment violated their rights to personal liberty and fair hearing guaranteed under Sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution and Articles 4, 5, 6 and 12(2) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The court also declared the remand warrant obtained by the police from Chief Magistrate Court 2, Yola, in respect of the persons arrested in Mubi, illegal, null and void.
The Federal High Court consequently ordered the police and correctional authorities to immediately release each of the 42 applicants upon each of them entering into a bond before the court to be of good behaviour for two years.
The court further restrained the respondents, their agents, privies or assigns from arresting or detaining the applicants again on the same facts without following due process of law.
However, the applicants alleged that the Commissioner of Police and the Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service refused to comply with the judgment.
Instead of releasing the detainees as ordered by the court, the authorities allegedly transferred them from the correctional centre in Yola to Numan Prison.
The alleged refusal to comply with the Federal High Court judgment has now triggered a contempt process against the two officials.
A committal summons in Form 48 was reportedly issued and served on the Commissioner of Police, Adamawa State Command, and the Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Adamawa State Command, warning them of the consequences of continued disobedience of the court order.
When contacted to confirm receipt of the Form 48 and explain why the Commissioner of Police allegedly refused to comply with the court order, the spokesperson for the Adamawa State Police Command, SP Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje, said he was not briefed on the development.
Nguroje said he would contact the command’s legal department and revert with details. However, as of the time of filing this report, he had not responded as promised.
Similarly, the spokesperson for the Nigerian Correctional Service in Adamawa State did not respond to repeated telephone calls placed to him. He also failed to reply to a text message sent to him seeking confirmation of the alleged transfer of the detainees to Numan Prison and the reported service of the Form 48 on the Controller.
The 42 applicants include Salim Isah, Abubakar Ahmadu, Ahmadu Samaila, Bashir Musa, Moses Ayuba, Abubakar Ibrahim, Ijasini Ahmadu, Lukman Jibrin, Zayyanu Shuaibu, Ishaka Adamu, Isah Mohammed, Eze Ebube, Umar Abubakar, Iliyasu Mohammed, Aimadgi Chiebelum, Liazarus Isah, Aliyu Mohammed, Ali Mohammed, Aliyu Ismail, Isah Umar, Ibrahim Kabiru, and Kamaladdeen Umar.
Others are Sadiq Talake, Ibrahim Saidu, Aliyu Saidu, Usman Ahmadu, Ismail Jauro, Abdu Ismail, Bello Adamu, Ahmed Abdullahi, Jabir Bala, Usman Mohammed, Yusuf Pius, Sale Abubakar, Umar Isiaka Abdullahi, Mujahid Yerima Yakubu, Tasiu Musa, Nuhu Musa, Saad Abubakar, Ibrahim Yusuf, Hassan Abubakar and Husseini Ahmed.
(SaharaReporters)