A human rights lawyer and an aide to Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum have clashed online over recent police operations targeting the Tinubu Must Go (TMG) movement in Kano and Borno states.
The exchange followed a police operation in Kano on Sunday in which officers prevented members of the movement from entering a privately rented venue for a planned meeting.
Barrister Hamza Nuhu Dantani criticised the action in a Hausa-language post, accusing the Kano State Commissioner of Police of violating human rights and threatening legal action. He said that while the police have tear gas and guns, citizens have the law on their side.
Abdulrahman Ahmed Bundi, senior special assistant on new media to Governor Zulum, replied by accusing Dantani of hypocrisy and describing him as a “disgruntled lawyer.”
“The hypocrisy of the disgruntled lawyer.
When the police did their work in Borno, it was Zulum, but now that it happened in Kano, where he used to receive chicken change, no one labelled the Governor,” Bundi wrote.
Bundi was referring to the recent arrest of five men in Maiduguri over T-shirts bearing the slogan “Tinubu Must Go,” used by opponents of President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The men were charged with criminal conspiracy, inciting disturbance, disturbing public peace and thuggery.
The arrests drew criticism from rights advocates, who questioned the basis for prosecuting people over T-shirts carrying a political message. The Borno State Police Command said the case involved more than the inscriptions, alleging that officers recovered suspected illicit drugs and other items from the men.
In Kano, TMG members were blocked from entering their planned meeting venue on Sunday. The movement’s convener, Abba Hikima, said police deployed more than 10 mobile police vehicles around the site, preventing participants from accessing the premises. The group later marched through the streets, chanting “Tinubu Must Go” and waving flags bearing the slogan.
Kano State Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Adamu Bakori defended the deployment, saying the command needed details of the gathering to make security arrangements. He acknowledged the group’s right to assemble but said the police required information about the meeting, which was expected to attract about 700 people.
Dantani later said he would respond to Bundi with facts, describing himself as an independent citizen whose earnings did not come from public funds.
“Just wait for my response. I have a calm, compelling, and fact-based message for you. I am not a servant to a servant. I am an independent private citizen whose earnings do not come from public funds,” he said.
Bundi challenged the lawyer to proceed and raised questions about alleged controversies involving Dantani, including issues linked to the University of Maiduguri Law Students’ Association, a VIBE car and a recent N50 million contract.
“I understand that the disgruntled lawyer is provoked and will write about me. I dare you,” Bundi wrote.
Dantani later said he would end the exchange after respected individuals intervened and Bundi contacted him, leading to an understanding between them. He maintained that his position was based on the protection of fundamental rights rather than political allegiance.
“Our concern is not about political personalities. It is about the protection of fundamental rights and the exercise of state power within the limits of the law,” he said.
