A Minna High Court on Tuesday ordered Mohammed Barau Kontagora to stop paraging parading himself as the 7th Sarkin Sudan Kontagora by virtue of the selection held on September 19, 2021.
Justice Abdullahi Mikailu gave the order after hearing the motion ex-parte moved by Barr. W. Y Mamman on behalf of 15 plaintiffs.
Mohammed Barau Kontagora was appointed the new Sarkin Sudan Kontagora by Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, on October 7, 2021, after the selection by Kontagora Emirate kingmakers.
The appointment followed the death of former Sarkin Sudan, Alhaji Saidu Namaska who died on September 9, 2021, after 47 years on the throne.
Justice Mikailu also restrained the defendants including the Niger State Attorney General and the state Commissioner of Local Government
and Chieftaincy Affairs from installing or issuing staff of office to Mohammed Barau Kontagora as the 7th Sarkin Sudan of Kontagora.
In a five paragraph affidavit of urgency, one Adam Muhammad Nasir, deposed that “immediately the announcement of the 1st defendant/ respondent was made, some youths in Kontagora were mobilising for a showdown and mass protest over the said selection of the 7th Sarkin Sudan Kontagora.”
The affidavit also stated that in the mix of all these, the 2nd and 3rd defendants gave a certificate of recognition to the 1st defendant on October 8, 2021, when tension had begun to build up in the emirate.
The affidavit stated that “unless this Honourable Court restrains all the defendants/respondents, quickly, they will destroy the rest and put this Honourable Court in a state of hopelessness and helplessness.”
The 15 plaintiffs who are eligible to contest for the royal throne are claiming that due process was not followed in the selection of the new Sarkin Sudan Kontagora.
They therefore approached the court in a motion on notice to nullify the purported selection of the 7th Sarkin Sudan Kontagora on 19th September 2021.
