The Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Gwagwalada Branch, N.D. Abdulsalam, has accused Lieutenant Colonel Nurudeen Yusuf of allegedly weaponising the judiciary and police in Kwara State to intimidate and persecute individuals involved in private land disputes.
Abdulsalam, who is also the Founding Partner of Lawgem LP, made the allegations in a statement in which he challenged Yusuf’s recent rebuttal of allegations concerning a land dispute, insisting that his original claims had been misrepresented.
He clarified that he never accused Yusuf of demolishing his property, contrary to what he said was contained in the rebuttal published by Sahara Reporters.
According to him, his actual allegations against the military officer centred on alleged land-grabbing, the use of state machinery to intimidate and harass victims, and the alleged compromise of certain courts in Kwara State.
He maintained that the recent events surrounding a criminal complaint filed against him had further strengthened his concerns about the alleged misuse of judicial and police institutions to settle private disputes.
Abdulsalam disclosed that on October 28, 2026, Yusuf filed a direct criminal complaint against him at Upper Area Court 3, Ilorin, Kwara State.
He alleged that barely 24 hours after the complaint was filed, precisely on October 29, the court hurriedly issued a warrant for his arrest without first serving him with a criminal summons.
He further claimed that the court subsequently issued a criminal summons directing him to appear on November 3, 2026, describing the sequence as a troubling judicial process in which an arrest warrant was issued before the defendant was formally summoned.
The NBA branch chairman said the situation became more disturbing when, on November 3, the exact date stated in the criminal summons, officers from the Kwara State Police Headquarters reportedly arrived in Abuja to arrest him.
He questioned how a court could issue an arrest warrant before serving a criminal summons on the person against whom the complaint was filed.
Abdulsalam said he was completely unaware of the proceedings until copies of the arrest warrant and criminal summons began circulating on social media.
He argued that the circumstances surrounding the proceedings raised serious concerns about the alleged use of the judiciary and police to intimidate individuals and influence the outcome of private disputes.
“The judiciary and the police have been caricatured by one man: a conqueror,” he stated.
He maintained that the development reinforced his earlier position that Yusuf allegedly uses judicial and law enforcement institutions to pursue personal interests and settle disputes.
Expressing concern about the possible implications for ordinary residents, particularly peasant farmers involved in land disputes, Abdulsalam said that if such alleged judicial irregularities could be deployed against a legal practitioner, the situation faced by less privileged individuals could be considerably worse.
He warned that vulnerable residents whose lands had allegedly been taken could face detention, intimidation and persecution without having the resources or legal backing to challenge such treatment.
The lawyer subsequently appealed to the Chief Judge of Kwara State to urgently investigate and sanitise the state’s judiciary, particularly the lower courts, to prevent judicial institutions from becoming instruments of oppression in the hands of influential individuals.
He warned that the integrity of the judiciary must be protected and that no individual, regardless of position or influence, should be allowed to manipulate the judicial process for personal interests.
Abdulsalam also expressed concern over what he described as the alarming rate of judicial tourism to Kwara State, calling for urgent institutional intervention to address the situation.
He stressed that the judiciary must remain independent, impartial and accessible to all citizens, rather than becoming a mechanism through which powerful individuals allegedly intimidate those they are involved in disputes with.
As of the time of the statement, the allegations made by Abdulsalam had not been independently established, and the claims concerning the court proceedings and the alleged conduct of the police were yet to be independently verified.