Tonto Dikeh
A Nigerian human rights lawyer, Ikechukwu Obasi, has dragged Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, to court over an alleged exorcism performed on a schoolgirl in Abuja.
The lawyer filed a ₦200 million lawsuit at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, accusing the actress of violating the constitutional rights of the minor during what he described as a “vicious religious deliverance ritual.”
The case was filed under Nigeria’s Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 on behalf of a Junior Secondary School 1 student of JSS Durumi II in Abuja, who is originally from Rivers State.
According to court documents, the incident allegedly occurred on March 6, 2026, after a video surfaced online showing the actress performing a deliverance session on the girl.
In the suit, Obasi claims the child was laid on bare ground and pressed against a stony surface while the actress carried out the ritual.
He argued that the act amounted to degrading treatment and exposed the child to public embarrassment and possible psychological trauma.
The lawyer also alleged that posting the footage and images on social media without the child’s consent violated her right to privacy under Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution and the Child Rights Act.
Obasi is asking the court to award ₦200 million in damages and declare that the alleged ritual violated the girl’s right to dignity.
The suit is also seeking an order directing Tonto Dikeh to remove the video and images from her social media platforms, publish an apology in three national newspapers, and stop conducting similar religious rituals on children. The court is yet to fix a date for the hearing of the case.