March 12, 2026

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A human rights lawyer, Ikechukwu Obasi, has taken legal action against Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh over a viral video showing her performing a deliverance on a schoolgirl in Abuja. Naija News reports that the case was filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009. The lawyer is asking the court to rule that the actions of the actress violated the rights of the child involved in the incident. The suit was filed on behalf of the minor, a Junior Secondary School One student at Junior Secondary School, Durumi II in Abuja. According to court documents, the girl is originally from Rivers State. In an affidavit attached to the court filing, the lawyer said he came across a video and photos shared on the actress’s official Facebook page on March 6, 2026. The footage showed the actress carrying out what he described as a forceful religious deliverance on the student during a visit to the school. The affidavit stated that during the session, the child was placed on bare ground and held against a rough surface while the ritual was carried out. The lawyer argued that the situation amounted to harassment and exposed the child to public embarrassment. He further told the court that the incident not only affected the dignity of the student but could also expose her to shame and emotional stress, especially after the video circulated widely on social media. The lawyer also raised concerns about the decision to share images and videos of the child online. According to him, posting the footage without proper protection of the child’s identity violated her right to privacy as provided for in the Nigerian Constitution and the Child Rights Act. Obasi told the court that portraying the schoolgirl as being possessed by evil spirits and attempting to cast out those spirits could lead to discrimination and ridicule from other children and members of the public. He also argued that such acts go beyond normal religious practice and may expose minors to public stigma, especially in communities where beliefs about witchcraft and spiritual attacks are common. Through the suit, the lawyer is asking the court to declare that the alleged deliverance ritual carried out by the actress breached the child’s right to dignity under Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution, as well as provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Child Rights Act. The court is also being asked to rule that religious rituals involving children in this manner violate their fundamental rights. In addition, the lawyer requested an order directing the actress to remove all videos and photos related to the incident from her social media accounts. He also asked the court to compel her to publish a public apology to the child and to Nigerian children in three national newspapers. The suit further seeks an order stopping the actress from carrying out similar religious deliverance rituals on any child in Nigeria in the future. Obasi is also asking the court to award the sum of two hundred million naira as damages for what he described as the violation of the child’s rights to dignity and privacy. According to him, the girl has already faced stigmatization following the circulation of the video online.

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