A human rights lawyer has filed a ₦200 million suit against Nigerian actress Tonto Dikeh at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, accusing her of violating the fundamental rights of a Junior Secondary School 1 pupil through a public “exorcism” ritual.
Ikechukwu Obasi brought the action on behalf of the minor, a student at Junior Secondary School, Durumi II, Abuja, originally from Rivers State. The suit, filed under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, alleges that on March 6, 2026, Dikeh carried out the act and posted photos and video footage on her official Facebook page.
The plaintiff’s affidavit states: “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.”
It further claims: “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 also argues: “The Respondent’s unauthorised publication of the photos and video footage of the vicious religious rite she carried out on the school child constitutes a violation of the child’s privacy.”
Obasi is seeking declarations that Dikeh breached the girl’s rights to dignity under Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Child Rights Act, as well as her right to privacy under Section 37 of the Constitution and the Child Rights Act 2003.
He is demanding removal of the content from social media, a public apology in three national newspapers, a perpetual injunction against similar acts, and ₦200 million in damages for stigmatisation and trauma.
No date has been fixed for hearing and Dikeh has not publicly responded to the allegations.
