Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has instituted a $10 million lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Nigeria over alleged violations of his fundamental rights during successive military administrations between the 1980s and 1990s.
The suit, filed at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja and marked ECW/CCJ/APP/30/2026, challenges a series of alleged arrests, detentions, movement restrictions and other actions Falana says were carried out against him during the period of military rule.
Falana is asking the regional court to declare that the alleged actions violated his rights to personal liberty, dignity, fair hearing, property and freedom of movement.
He is also seeking $10 million in damages and declarations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and relevant ECOWAS legal instruments.
Falana’s first confrontation with authorities
According to the application, Falana’s confrontation with the authorities began during his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) year in Oyo State between 1982 and 1983.
At the time, he represented students of the University of Ibadan who had been charged with conspiracy and attempted murder following a dispute involving the university’s vice-chancellor.
Falana alleges that the NYSC authorities withheld his discharge certificate after he represented the students without official permission.
He maintains that the students eventually succeeded in the case.
The lawsuit also alleges that Falana was arrested in June 1985 by armed agents of the then National Security Organisation (NSO) at the Lagos State High Court.
He says the agents searched his chambers without a warrant but found nothing incriminating.
According to Falana, he was subsequently held for about seven weeks at the NSO facility at 15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, in what he described as dehumanising conditions.
He says he was released on August 30, 1985, following the military coup that brought Ibrahim Babangida to power.
Dispute over reason for detention
The Babangida administration later renamed the NSO as the State Security Service (SSS) and established a panel headed by Samson Uwaifo, a former judge, to investigate cases involving detention.
Falana appeared before the panel but disputes the explanation later given for his detention.
According to his application, the security authorities told the panel that his detention was linked to his role in defending musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in a foreign exchange-related prosecution.
Falana disputes that account.
He argues that Isola Kanmi-Osobu, who had led the defence team in Fela’s case, was neither arrested nor detained.
Falana’s lawsuit also recounts an alleged incident in April 1990, when he says SSS officials abducted him from his Lagos residence at about 2am.
He alleges that he was driven towards the Lagos-Epe road before being abandoned in a bush.
Falana says he eventually found his way to Epe and returned to Lagos.
He further alleges that the SSS denied responsibility for the incident and that the military government did not act on his request for an investigation.
In October 1991, Falana says security officials stopped him from travelling to Harare, Zimbabwe, where he was scheduled to attend a human rights conference.
He alleges that his international passport was seized and retained for six months.
He is asking the ECOWAS court to declare that the restriction breached his freedom of movement under Article 12 of the African Charter.
June 12 activism and prolonged detention
The lawsuit also covers Falana’s activities during the political crisis surrounding the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Falana alleges that he, Beko Ransome-Kuti and Baba Omojola were arrested on May 19, 1992, and detained before being transferred to Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja.
According to the application, the late human rights lawyer Gani Fawehinmi was subsequently arrested after seeking their release.
Falana says a court ordered his release on June 8, 1992, but the Babangida administration did not comply with the order.
He alleges that the detainees were later charged with conspiracy and treasonable felony over an alleged attempt to overthrow the military government.
Falana further alleges that the defendants were held incommunicado and denied the opportunity to choose their lawyers.
The suit says Falana, Fawehinmi and Ransome-Kuti were subsequently arrested and prosecuted after opposing the annulment of the June 12 election.
They were accused of offences including conspiracy, sedition and incitement, according to the application.
Falana alleges that court orders granting bail were initially disobeyed and that the activists remained in detention until August 1993.
Further arrests under military rule
The lawsuit alleges that Falana experienced additional arrests and periods of detention between 1994 and 1998.
He links the arrests to his human rights advocacy, labour activities, international engagements and involvement in matters concerning the prosecution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other leaders of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP).
In March 1998, Falana says he and nine other people were arrested after he delivered a paper at a labour workshop.
They were subsequently charged with conspiracy and unlawful assembly.
According to the application, the case was eventually struck out for want of diligent prosecution.
Falana is asking the ECOWAS court to declare that the arrests he alleges occurred 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 abduction in 1990, the withholding of his NYSC discharge certificate, the seizure of his international passport and alleged breaches of his right to a fair hearing during proceedings in 1992 and 1993.
Falana cites international findings
In support of his case, Falana’s application refers to findings attributed to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and reports by Amnesty International concerning some of the arrests and detentions.
He also points to former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida’s 2025 memoir, A Journey in Service, in which Babangida acknowledged that Moshood Abiola won the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Falana argues that the acknowledgement is relevant because activists were arrested and prosecuted after challenging the annulment of the election.
The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice will now be asked to determine the claims raised in Falana’s application, including whether the alleged actions violated rights protected under the African Charter and other applicable regional instruments.
Falana is seeking $10 million in damages in addition to the declarations requested from the court.
