A Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, has been dragged before a court over an alleged religious deliverance performed on a schoolgirl, with a human rights lawyer seeking ₦200 million in damages for alleged violations of the child’s fundamental rights.

The lawsuit was initiated by human rights lawyer Ikechukwu Obasi at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, following an incident said to have occurred on March 6, 2026. The case was filed under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009 on behalf of a Junior Secondary School 1 student of JSS Durumi II, Abuja, who is originally from Rivers State.

According to court filings, the lawyer alleged that the actress subjected the minor to what he described as a harmful religious ritual and later shared related footage online.

“On 6th March, 2026, I stumbled upon a viral footage and photos on the official Facebook page of the Respondent, Tonto Dikeh, a Nollywood actress showing the Respondent carrying out a vicious religious exorcism on a female school child wherein the child was laid on bare ground while being pressed against the stony surface despite the Respondent wearing artificial finger nails; harassing, and publicly shaming the child,” the lawyer argued.

Obasi said the alleged incident amounted to degrading treatment of the minor and could expose the child to long term psychological harm.

“The actions of the Respondent did not just constitute degrading treatment of the school child but exposed her to contempt, public shame, and likely unspoken child trauma,” the filing states.

The suit also contends that the circulation of the footage on social media without consent violated the girl’s privacy rights under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Child Rights Act 2003.

According to the lawyer, portraying the student as being demonically possessed could further expose her to stigma, ridicule and discrimination among her peers.

Beyond the ₦200 million compensation being sought, the case is asking the court to declare that the alleged act violated the child’s constitutional right to dignity and personal privacy.

The suit is also requesting an order directing Dikeh to remove the video and images from all her social media platforms, publish an unreserved apology in three national newspapers, and refrain permanently from conducting similar religious rites on any Nigerian child.

In addition, the application asks the court to determine that any form of child exorcism or harmful religious ritual carried out under the guise of spiritual deliverance constitutes a violation of the fundamental rights of children in Nigeria. (AriseNews TV)

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