The recent press release by the family of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai raises troubling questions about how law enforcement agencies treat citizens in custody. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission’s refusal to allow Mallam’s doctor access on 15 May 2026, and its prevention of dinner delivery by his wife, cannot be reconciled with court orders granting him access to family, lawyers, and medical care. If “protocols” are used to nullify court orders, then the orders themselves become meaningless.
The family’s account makes clear that these actions go beyond routine detention procedures. Preventing a meal because it arrived 30 minutes late, after ICPC itself delayed the doctor’s visit for two hours, appears punitive rather than procedural. Detention for securing for an investigation is lawful. Detention that denies basic rights and dignity, however, moves into the realm of harassment. The rule of law requires that agencies act within the law, not above it.
This matter is not about politics or personalities. I am writing as a concerned Nigerian who sees a dangerous pattern forming. If agencies can ignore court orders today and hide behind “protocols,” what stops the same practice when those currently in power are out of office? Young Nigerians watching this will conclude that court rulings are optional and that might determine right. The disadvantages are clear: erosion of trust in the judiciary, normalization of executive overreach, discouragement of civic participation, and the risk that future leaders will treat citizens the same way they were treated. This weakens institutions and sets a cycle of retaliation that no one benefits from.
The current administration must recognize that selective compliance with court orders sets a dangerous precedent. Today it is one citizen; tomorrow it could be any Nigerian. If young people see that court rulings are treated as optional, they will lose faith in institutions and conclude that power, not law, determines outcomes. That lesson harms the country far more than any single case.
I therefore call on the administration to intervene and ensure that the ICPC respects court orders, grants Mallam access to his doctor and family, and ceases practices that turn detention into punishment. Law enforcement must be firm, but it must also be lawful. Nigeria’s democracy depends on it.
Ibrahim Bukar Tijjani, hkbukar74@gmail.com