The Inspector-General of Police (I-G) Mohammed Adamu and the Kano State Government have unsealed the Tiamin Rice Company in Kano in compliance with a Federal High Court order.
Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court Abuja had issued the order for the Rice Mill to be unsealed and handed over to the owners.
Counsel to the rice mill, Mr Adegboyega Awomolo, (SAN) on Wednesday, told the court that all barricades erected at the company premises by the police had been removed.
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Awomolo applauded the I-G for taking steps to ensure that the order was obeyed and that the rice factory reopened saying he had demonstrated loyalty to the Nigerian Constitution.
The Court had on May 21, threatened to jail the Kano State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice as well as the state Commissioner of Police over the unlawful closure of the company.
It further warned that the duo would be guilty of contempt of court and will be committed to prison if they refused to obey the judgment and unseal the company.
This was a sequel to their refusal to appear before the court to explain why they sealed the company and stopped production without a lawful court order.
The Tiamin Rice Mill, Tiamin Multi-services Global Limited and Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim, had jointly dragged the I-G, Kano State Commissioner of Police, Kano state government and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) to court seeking the enforcement of their fundamental rights.
They complained of unlawful closure of the company without court orders and prayed the court to order that it should be reopened.
Although the court ordered the four respondents to appear before it on April 27 to defend their actions, none of them appeared.
They were also not represented by their lawyers in spite of being served notices and newspaper publications to that effect.
The court had also ordered that “the sealing of the rice processing mill and denial of lawful access without any court order constituted a violation of the owners’ fundamental rights under Sections 33, 34, 43 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution.
The court voided the action of the state government in sealing the company and stopping production without any notice or fair hearing, declaring it as an unlawful act.
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