Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has instituted a $10 million human rights suit against the Federal Republic of Nigeria before the ECOWAS Court of Justice over alleged violations of his fundamental rights during successive military regimes in the 1980s and 1990s.
The suit, marked ECW/CCJ/APP/30/2026 and filed in Abuja, seeks declarations that Falana's arrests, detentions, alleged abduction and restrictions on his movement during the period were unlawful and violated his rights under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and relevant ECOWAS legal instruments.
He is also seeking $10 million in damages for alleged violations of his rights to personal liberty, dignity, fair hearing, property and freedom of movement.
According to the application, Falana's confrontation with the authorities began during his National Youth Service Corps programme in Oyo State between 1982 and 1983.
He had represented students of the University of Ibadan who were facing charges of conspiracy and attempted murder following a dispute involving the university's then Vice-Chancellor.
Falana alleged that the NYSC authorities subsequently withheld his discharge certificate because he represented the students without official authorisation.
“Even though the applicant completed the service, the authorities of the National Youth Service Corps seized his discharge certificate for defending the students without official permission,” the application stated.
He said the students eventually won the case.
Falana further alleged that armed operatives of the then National Security Organisation arrested him at the Lagos State High Court in June 1985, searched his chambers without a warrant and found nothing incriminating.
According to him, he was subsequently detained for seven weeks at the NSO facility at 15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, where he described the conditions as “dehumanising”.
He said he was released on August 30, 1985, following the military coup that brought General Ibrahim Babangida to power.
The Babangida administration later renamed the NSO as the State Security Service and established a panel headed by former judge, Justice Samson Uwaifo, to investigate cases of detention.
Falana said he appeared before the panel but rejected the explanation contained in its subsequent white paper concerning the reason for his detention.
He alleged that the SSS told the panel that his detention was connected with his role in the defence of late Afrobeat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, who was prosecuted over foreign exchange-related offences.
Falana, however, disputed the explanation, arguing that Isola Kanmi-Osobu, who had led the defence team in Fela's case, was neither arrested nor detained.
Alleged abduction and travel restrictions
The lawyer also alleged that SSS operatives abducted him from his Lagos residence at about 2am on April 8, 1990, drove him towards the Lagos-Epe road and abandoned him in a bush.
He said he eventually found his way to Epe before returning to Lagos.
According to the application, the SSS denied responsibility for the incident, while the military government declined his request for an investigation.
Falana further alleged that in October 1991, security officials prevented him from travelling to Harare, Zimbabwe, where he was scheduled to attend a human rights conference.
He said his international passport was seized and only returned after six months.
He is asking the ECOWAS Court to declare that the restriction breached his right to freedom of movement under Article 12 of the African Charter.
The lawyer also recounted his arrest alongside Beko Ransome-Kuti and Baba Omojola on May 19, 1992.
He alleged that they were detained before being transferred to Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, adding that the late human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi, was subsequently arrested and taken to the facility after seeking their release.
Falana said a judge ordered his release on June 8, 1992, but the Babangida administration failed to comply with the order.
“The Ibrahim Babangida military junta ensured that the order for applicant's release was disobeyed without any legal basis,” the suit stated.
Falana, Fawehinmi, Ransome-Kuti and Omojola were subsequently charged with conspiracy and treasonable felony over an alleged attempt to overthrow the military government.
Falana alleged that the defendants were held incommunicado and denied the opportunity to choose their lawyers.
He further alleged that he, Fawehinmi and Ransome-Kuti were arrested and prosecuted after campaigning against the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
According to the application, they were charged with conspiracy, sedition and incitement.
Falana said court orders granting them bail were initially disobeyed, resulting in their continued detention until August 1993.
The application also referenced findings attributed to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and reports by Amnesty International concerning some of the arrests.
Falana argued that Babangida's acknowledgement in his 2025 memoir, A Journey in Service, that Moshood Abiola won the June 12 election was significant, given that activists were arrested and prosecuted for opposing the annulment.
Further arrests
The senior lawyer alleged that he was subjected to further arrests and detention between 1994 and 1998 in connection with his human rights advocacy, labour activities, international engagements and involvement in matters concerning the trial of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other leaders of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People.
In March 1998, he said he and nine others were arrested after he delivered a paper at a labour workshop and were subsequently charged with conspiracy and unlawful assembly.
The case was later struck out for want of diligent prosecution, according to the application.
Falana is asking the ECOWAS Court to declare that his arrests and detention between 1985 and 1996 violated his right to personal liberty under Article 6 of the African Charter.
He is also seeking declarations concerning the alleged 1990 abduction, the seizure of his NYSC discharge certificate and international passport, as well as alleged breaches of his right to fair hearing during the proceedings in 1992 and 1993.
He is consequently demanding $10 million in damages for the alleged violations.
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