Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has filed a $10m damages suit against the Federal Government over alleged violations of his fundamental rights during successive military administrations.
The suit, filed before the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States in Abuja, is registered as ECW/CCJ/APP/30/2026.
Falana alleged that he was unlawfully arrested and detained on several occasions, restricted from travelling and subjected to other rights violations between the 1980s and 1990s.
He is asking the ECOWAS Court to declare the alleged violations unlawful and unconstitutional and award him $10m in damages.
The case is based on alleged violations of his rights to personal liberty, dignity, fair hearing, property and freedom of movement under the African Charter on Human and People Rights.
Falana, who was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1982 and is a former President of the West African Bar Association, recounted several incidents in his application.
He said his first major confrontation with the Federal Government occurred during his National Youth Service Corps programme in Oyo State between 1982 and 1983.
According to him, he represented University of Ibadan students who were charged with conspiracy and attempted murder following allegations involving the institution’s Vice-Chancellor.
Falana claimed that although he completed his service, the government withheld his NYSC discharge certificate because of his decision to defend the students.
He said the case was eventually decided in favour of the students in Andrew Ogor & Ors v Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Kolawole & Anor (1983) NCLR 142.
The lawyer further alleged that armed agents of the then National Security Organisation arrested him on June 8, 1985, at the Lagos State High Court.
He said the agents took him to his chambers at Alao Aka-Bashorun Chambers on Jebba Street, Ebute Metta, Lagos, where they conducted a search without a warrant.
Falana said nothing incriminating was found before he was taken to the NSO detention facility on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He alleged that he spent seven weeks in detention alongside other political detainees before his release on August 30, 1985, following the military coup that brought General Ibrahim Babangida to power.
He said the Babangida administration later renamed the NSO as the State Security Service and established the Justice Samson Uwaifo Panel to review cases of detention.
Falana said he appeared before the panel and challenged what he described as an inaccurate explanation by security authorities for his detention.
He also alleged that the SSS prevented him from travelling to Harare, Zimbabwe, in October 1991 for a human rights conference.
According to him, the agency seized his international passport and kept it for six months, forcing fellow lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, to deliver his paper at the conference.
Falana further alleged that SSS officials abducted him from his Lagos residence at about 2am on April 8, 1990.
He said the operatives drove him towards the Lagos-Epe road, abandoned him in a bush and left him to find his way to Epe before returning to Lagos.
The lawyer said the SSS denied involvement in the incident, while the military government rejected his request for an investigation.
Falana also recounted his arrest at the Lagos State High Court on May 19, 1992, alleging that he was detained for two days at the Bar Beach Police Station before being flown to Abuja.
He said he was flown alongside Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti and Baba Omojola, who had also been arrested.
The case is now before the ECOWAS Court, where Falana is seeking declarations over the alleged violations and $10m in compensation.
