Practice area
Human Rights and Civil Liberties
Chapter IV of the Constitution is enforceable, directly and on a procedure designed to be quick. The obstacles are almost never the rights themselves. They are timing, standing and the quality of the record.
What we act on
The matters that reach us.
Unlawful arrest and detention
Detention beyond constitutional limits, detention without charge, refusal of bail at the station, and applications for release and for damages.
Police and task force misconduct
Assault, extortion, seizure of property, and the use of criminal process to collect a civil debt.
Dignity of the person
Inhuman and degrading treatment in custody, and conditions of detention.
Privacy and personal data
Unlawful search, interference with communications and devices, and the overlap between privacy under section 37 and the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.
Property and livelihood
Sealing and demolition without due process, seizure of goods, and interference with the right to earn a living.
Freedom of expression and assembly
Arrests arising from publications and posts, and the treatment of gatherings and protest.
How an enforcement application runs
Built for speed, lost on detail.
The Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 removed most of the technical barriers that used to defeat these applications. What remains is unforgiving about the affidavit.
Instructions and the affidavit
The application stands or falls on a sworn account that is specific about dates, times, places and persons, and that annexes what can be annexed. We take that account while recollection is fresh.
Choice of court and respondents
State High Court or Federal High Court depending on who the respondent is. Suing the wrong body, or the officer instead of the institution, is the most common avoidable defeat.
Filing and hearing
Application, statement of the grounds, affidavit and written address filed together, with an application for interim relief where liberty or property is at immediate risk.
Parallel complaints, where they help
A complaint to the National Human Rights Commission or to the Police Complaint Response Unit can run alongside the application. It is not a substitute for it, and it is not always wise. We advise on that before filing.
If someone is in custody now