Tonto Dikeh is facing a ₦200 million lawsuit over a religious ritual performed on a female student in Abuja.
The fundamental rights enforcement suit was filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory by human rights lawyer Ikechukwu Obasi. The case accuses the actress of violating the minor’s rights to dignity and privacy.
According to the court filing, the incident involved a Junior Secondary School 1 student from JSS Durumi II in Abuja. During the session, which was recorded and later posted on Dikeh’s official Facebook page, the student was laid on the bare ground and pressed against a stony surface.
Tonto Dikeh reportedly explained that she carried out the ritual because she believed the child was in spiritual danger.
“I felt a spirit of death hovering around the child.”
However, the lawyer representing the student argued that the public nature of the act caused emotional harm and exposed the minor to public ridicule.
“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 lawsuit also claims that presenting the child as demonically possessed on social media violated her constitutional rights. The filing specifically references Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and provisions of the Child Rights Act 2003, which protect the dignity and privacy of minors.
In addition to the ₦200 million compensation, the suit asks the court to declare that the ritual violated the student’s fundamental rights.
The lawyer is also seeking an order directing Dikeh to remove the video from all platforms. The suit further demands that she publish an unreserved apology in three national newspapers.
The legal filing also requests a perpetual injunction to prevent the actress from performing similar religious rites on any Nigerian child in the future.
As of the time of filing, Dikeh has not publicly responded to the lawsuit or the allegations raised in the case.
The court has also been asked to rule that harmful religious rites carried out under the guise of spiritual deliverance may constitute a violation of fundamental rights in Nigeria.
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