Monday, the 28th of September was the set date for his appeal to file a motion to stop the re-trial at the Federal High Court of Appeal Kaduna and as expected another road block was setup by the Shekaru led Government. The judge assigned to the case ordered Iyan-tama’s counsel to go back to Kano to the magistrate that was assigned the case initially to file the motion to stop the retrial (the same court that sent him to jail for over 3months over false allegations), and that if they refuse to grant the motion then they should then come back to Federal High Court of Appeal in Kaduna to re-file the motion to stop the re-trial.
Back to the subject of injustice, it’s only just that we bring everyone up to speed on the case of Alhaji Hamisu Iyan-Tama. If you don’t know the full story, well sit back and relax while we help you piece things together.
Alhaji Hamisu Lamido Iyan-Tama, the famous Hausa actor and producer was jailed for three months by a magistrate court in Kano. He had been jailed for “allegedly releasing a feature film without government approval and running a filmmaking company without registration”, an allegation that was completely false.
See end of article for scanned copies of his registration documents and payment receipts.
During his incarceration, Iyan-Tama was made to suffer a lot of indignity, including a psychological warfare waged against him by the Kano State Censorship Board headed by the so called Director-General of the board. This so called Director-General of the board, whose stock in trade is a blitzkrieg of propaganda against movie practitioners, embarked on media interviews in which he justified what he clearly knew to be a travesty of justice against Iyan-Tama; he knew quite well that the plot to deal with Iyan-Tama was conceived, hatched and executed by him and a few of his cohorts, and his wish was granted by the magistrate who had proved in more ways than one that he was a willing tool to be used against anyone connected to the movie industry.
Not only that, Iyan-Tama’s family was attacked on one occasion at midnight by a colony of thugs, who held his wife and daughter hostage, threatening to rape them. The family had to flee the house the next day. Also about a month later, another house connected to Iyan-Tama’s family was attacked by a group of thugs (widely thought to be the same as the first group). During this attack, the thugs raped a female house-help, thinking she was a member of the actor’s immediate family.
After spending over 3 months in jail, Iyan-Tama was granted bail and a retrial was ordered following a review of the case by the Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice. According to the Attorney-General, Barrister Aliyu Umar, the first trial was besmirched by irregularities. Due process was not followed in the trial that led to the conviction, he said. He used very uncomplimentary terms to describe the trial conducted by a senior magistrate, Alhaji Mukhtari Ahmed, such as “improper,” “incomplete,” “a mistake,” summing up by insisting that a “more competent magistrate” should be given the case to try again.
But yet after having committed an injustice that can be successfully argued even by a baby lawyer to be a travesty of justice, the said senior magistrate, Alhaji Mukhtari Ahmed still works in the court houses of Kano State.
And after all Iyan-Tama went through he was not compensated for his illegal imprisonment by the Kano State Government.
It’s been over seven months now since Iyantama’s lawyer, Suleiman Abdulkadir, SAN, has tried to file a motion to stop the fresh retrial at the Federal High Court of Appeal Kaduna and repeatedly the Kano State Government has tried to block and prevent Iyan-Tama’s lawyer from doing so (the judgment of yesterday spells it all). Is this how justice would be done in Nigeria, where is Yar’adua, where is the Minister of Justice (oops forget about that guy), where are the Supreme Chief Justices of Nigeria.
Anyways back to subject, we all know who the main conspirator is, the individual who has been sponsoring all these shenanigans (PS. no need for name calling that’s childs play, as a matter of fact he goes be the name Gov Ibrahim Shekaru). Yes, Gov Ibrahim Shekaru, the question we would like to ask is what gives him the audacity to want to contest in the 2011 presidential election. Does he think we Nigerians are stupid? Well, new flash we see through walls thick as the Great Wall of China.
After he single handedly destroyed an industry in Kano that employs over 100,000 people some of whom even got arrested and imprisoned all in the name of sanity. If he can imprison his own people for things such as making movies in which some form of singing and dancing is involved (similar to Indian movies), in which he Iyan-Tama, is recognized by all the industry and federal level leaders as one of the best Hausa movie makers, who is always in line with the laws that have been stipulated by the National Film and Video Censors Board. Secondly even the Kano Censors board law exempted Iyan-Tama’s movie Tsintsiya from being censored, because it’s a sponsored movie but yet they decided humiliate and intimidate him and his family.
If he goes through all this extent to frustrate his own people, what would he be then do to our fellow Igbo / Yoruba brothers and sisters in Nollywood or even in other aspects of life when he gets to power.
Rather than focusing his efforts on building society, roads, schools, hospital and creating employment; he would rather focus his efforts on destroying an industry that employs over 100,000 individuals in Kano and some other northern states; all because he heard the loud drums of honesty and justice amongst those who have not sold their souls to the devil.
Beware of these traitors, collect chum change pocket money now from them and guarantee you will suffer later without a doubt, without a job in sight.
I have followed the entire case from the start and numerous others getting information from numerous sources, including stake holders in the Shekaru government.
Below are the said documentation the Kano State Governement said Iyan-Tama didnt have, and thus the reason why he was jailed for over 3months. Hmmm!!!
Actual Decision of Kano State Censors Board
Proof of Payment to Kano State Censors Board
Renewal of License which the Kano State Censorship Board said Iyantama didnt have
His Production Permit
His Certificate of Registration
