Why Emir Sanusi II was under house arrest — Don

A former Professor of Law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria who is the Director General of Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Professor Tawfiq Ladan, has said the banishment of Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II and subsequent house arrest was not the first of its kind.

He added that the house arrest was to avoid public unrest.

“Emir Sanusi I was a victim in 1963. Same goes to Sultan Dasuki who was moved from Sokoto to Kaduna,” he said.

“It is about the power of governors to appoint and dismiss. So, the house arrest thing is done to a very popular emir to avoid public unrest,” he added.

Also, the Pro-Chancellor of Federal University of Petroleum University, Effurun, Delta State, Professor Abdullahi Shehu Zuru, said Sanusi’s restriction is not about law but the tradition of the people.

He explained that Sanusi’s grandfather also suffered the same fate when he was deposed.

“If we are looking at his removal from the law, that is clearly a breach of his fundamental human right. And tradition cannot supersede fundamental human rights,” he said.

Meanwhile a Professor of Islamic Political Thoughts at Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, Professor Umar Muhammad Labdo, said the dethroned Emir invited “the calamity to himself by openly involving himself in politics.”

Labdo, in an interview, told Daily Trust that Sanusi involved himself in politics during the last general elections. This, he said, was against the custom of the emirate.

“It is unfortunate that the emirate is being played with by politicians, but Sanusi invited this to himself. He is too vocal against the custom. Traditional rulers have ways of contributing to governance not publicly,” he added.

READ: ‘Sanusi aware of imminent removal as emir’

He also accused the dethroned emir of trying to introduce “western things” into the emirate.

“He is pro-women against men. He told women to retaliate if their husbands slapped them. This is against our culture in Africa. He is too blunt; he talks without considering the feelings of his people,” he said.

Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje yesterday approved the appointment of Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero as the new Emir of Kano hours after dethroning Sanusi II.

The dethroned emir was sent to Nasarawa State on exile.

Hours after his removal, Sanusi II was flown to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja from where he was driven to Loko in Nasarawa State.

A credible source who spoke to him said the former emir was not visibly ruffled despite the situation he found himself.

“He was very, very calm,” the source said, adding “I spoke with him…He appeared normal, he told me all is well; he said he has submitted his fate to his Creator.”

Sanusi’s lawyer A.B. Mahmud, SAN described the removal of Emir Sanusi as “an illegality.”