The suit demands ₦200 million in damages over alleged violations of the child’s rights
A Nigerian human rights lawyer, Ikechukwu Obasi, has initiated a ₦200 million lawsuit against Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh over an alleged deliverance ritual involving a female schoolgirl in Abuja on March 6, 2026.
According to reports, Obasi filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, accusing the actress of breaching the constitutional rights of the minor during what he described as a “vicious religious deliverance ritual.”
The case, brought under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, was filed on behalf of a Junior Secondary School 1 student of JSS Durumi II in Abuja who is originally from Rivers State.
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The suit demands ₦200 million in damages over alleged violations of the child’s rights to dignity and privacy.
“On 6th March, 2026, I stumbled upon a viral footage and photos on the official Facebook page of the Respondent, Tonto Dikeh, a Nollywood actress showing the Respondent carrying out a vicious religious exorcism on a female school child wherein the child was laid on bare ground while being pressed against the stony surface despite the Respondent wearing artificial finger nails; harassing, and publicly shaming the child,” the lawyer argued.
In an affidavit attached to the originating motion, the human rights lawyer stated that the alleged act amounted to degrading treatment and subjected the minor to public embarrassment, stigma and potential psychological trauma.
“The actions of the Respondent did not just constitute degrading treatment of the school child but exposed her to contempt, public shame, and likely unspoken child trauma,” the filing states.
Obasi further argued that the publication of the footage and images on social media without consent violated the girl’s right to privacy under Section 37 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and the Child Rights Act 2003.
He also maintained that presenting the child as being demonically possessed could expose her to ridicule and discrimination among her peers.
In addition to the ₦200 million compensation, the suit is asking the court to declare that the alleged ritual breached the child’s constitutional right to dignity.
It is also seeking an order directing Dikeh to take down the video and images from all her social media platforms, issue an unreserved apology in three national newspapers, and be restrained permanently from conducting similar religious rites on any Nigerian child.
The application further asks the court to rule that any form of child exorcism or harmful religious ritual carried out under the guise of spiritual deliverance constitutes a violation of the fundamental rights of children in Nigeria.
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