Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala of Federal High Court in Lagos, has dismissed a N300 million fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by one Oladapo Afolarin Obateru against the Nigeria Police Force and others over his arrest, detention and seizure of three vehicles following a dispute with his former employers for being unmeritorious.
Justice Ibrahim Ahmed Kala, in a judgment delivered on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, held that Obateru failed to establish any violation of his fundamental rights by the police and other respondents.
The applicant had instituted the suit, marked FHC/L/CS/884/2025, against the Nigeria Police Force, Inspector-General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), Alagbon, the Commissioner of Police, FCID Annex, Acteon Project Services Limited and Mr. Oluwasusi Joseph Sunday.
Obateru through his lawyer, Rafiu Bello Esq had sought declarations that his arrest and detention on June 17, 2025, at the instance of his former employers, were illegal, unconstitutional and an abuse of judicial process.
He also challenged the seizure of his three vehicles, comprising two Toyota 4Runner SUVs and a Mercedes-Benz ML350, as well as the alleged forceful collection of their keys as a condition for his release.
He therefore prayed the court to award applicant demanded N200 million damages against his former employers, Acteon Project Services Limited and Sunday, and another N100 million against the police respondents.
He also prayed for an order restraining the respondents from arresting, detaining, harassing or intimidating him and his family members over issues connected with his resignation from employment.
However, the police through its lawyer, Tijani Williams Esq, of the legal department of the ForceCid Annex, Alagbon-Ikoyi, and Folashade O. Akintunde, lawyer to the fifth and sixth respondents, in their different the applications, opposed the applicant’s suit, and argued that the applicant had failed to establish any breach of his fundamental rights.
All the respondents therefore urged the court to dismiss the suit with substantial cost.
Delivering judgment in the suit today, Justice Kala, after citing plethoras of legal authorites, resolved the sole issue raised by the parties against the applicant.
The judge also held that the police acted within their constitutional and statutory responsibilities by investigating allegations made against the applicant concerning the vehicles.
The judge said the police had the power to investigate complaints bordering on suspected criminal offences, even where the underlying dispute also had civil elements.
In dismissing the suit, Justice Kala held that: “……. I therefore, do not find anything untoward in the actions of the 1st— 4th respondents in acting upon the Petition of the 5th and 6th respondents and following due process and invited the applicant for the purposes of investigating the allegations made against him and hearing from him, his own side of the story to enable the police determine if indeed any of the alleged offences has been established against him or not and to take a further step necessary in the circumstance of the case.
“Therefore, there could never be breached or likely breach of the applicant’s fundamental rights on taking custody of the vehicles pending conclusion of investigation by the Police and also insisting the applicant for questioning, Therefore, the onus of proof has not been discharged by the applicant to have shifted on the respondents by way of evidential burden to justify their actions (if any) in the alleged confiscation of the vehicles in question and the invitation of the applicant to report to the police based on the reasonable suspicious of the commission of an offence.
“I therefore hold that while resolving the sole issue for determination in the negative, this suit as constituted has not establish a case of breach of the applicant’s Fundamental Rights deserving of judicial intervention. Consequently, this suit is hereby dismissed for being unmeritorious.”
