Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has filed a $10 million damages lawsuit against the Federal Government of Nigeria at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.
TheNewsGuru reports that Falana accused the federal government of violating his fundamental rights during several military administrations.
In the case ECW/CCJ/APP/30/2026, filed at the ECOWAS Court in Abuja, Falana claimed that the Federal Government of Nigeria unlawfully arrested and detained him, restricted his movement, and violated his rights between the 1980s and 1990s.
He also asks the court to declare the alleged violations unlawful and unconstitutional and to award him $10 million in damages.
The lawsuit focuses on alleged violations of his rights to personal liberty, dignity, a fair hearing, property, and freedom of movement under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Falana said his main conflict with the FGN happened during his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program in Oyo State from 1982 to 1983.
He explained that he defended University of Ibadan students who were accused of conspiracy and attempted murder after allegations involving the university’s Vice-Chancellor.
Falana said that even though he finished his service, the FGN withheld his NYSC discharge certificate because he defended the students.
He noted that the case was eventually decided in favor of the students and referred to Andrew Ogor & Ors v Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Kolawole & Anor (1983) NCLR 142.
The human rights lawyer also said that on June 8, 1985, armed agents from the National Security Organisation (NSO) arrested him at the Lagos State High Court. He added that the agents then took him to his office at Alao Aka-Bashorun Chambers on Jebba Street in Ebute Metta, Lagos, where they searched the premises without a warrant.
Falana said they found nothing incriminating during the search before taking him to the NSO detention facility at 15 Awolowo Road in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The SAN further alleged that he was detained there for seven weeks alongside other political detainees before his release on August 30, 1985, following the military coup that brought General Ibrahim Babangida to power.
Falana said the Babangida administration later renamed the NSO the State Security Service (SSS) and established the Justice Samson Uwaifo Panel to investigate detention cases.
The SAN argued that he appeared before the panel and alleged that the security authorities gave an inaccurate explanation for his detention.
The senior lawyer insisted that the SSS prevented him from travelling to Harare, Zimbabwe, in October 1991 to attend a human rights conference.
Falana stated that the security agency confiscated his international passport and retained it for six months, adding that Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, subsequently read his paper at the conference on his behalf.
The SAN argued further that he was abducted from his Lagos residence at about 2am on April 8, 1990, by persons he identified as SSS officials.
While adding that the security operatives drove him toward the Lagos-Epe road and abandoned him in a bush before he found his way to Epe and returned to Lagos, Falana maintained that the SSS denied involvement and that the military government rejected his request for an investigation.
Recounting his arrest on May 19, 1992, at the Lagos State High Court and his subsequent detention, the SAN said he was held for two days at the Bar Beach Police Station before being flown to Abuja with Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti and Baba Omojola, who had also been arrested.