A businesswoman, Mrs Mabel Alabijah Hussaini, has filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos, against the Inspector-General of Police over alleged unlawful arrest, detention, and harassment related to a civil and matrimonial dispute. Others joined in the suit are senior police officers, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), her estranged husband, and a real estate firm.

In the suit marked FHC/L/CS/1468/2025, Hussaini is asking the court to declare that the actions of the respondents violated her rights to dignity of the human person, personal liberty, fair hearing, private and family life, and freedom of movement as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution.

According to court documents, Hussaini married her husband in 2016 under native law and custom, and the marriage produced a daughter, now eight years old.

She told the court that in November 2024, her husband gave her $60,000 to invest in real estate and to set up a trust fund for their daughter. The claimant said she used the money as agreed by purchasing a property at E18, Citadel Estate, Ogombo Road, Lekki, Lagos, in the child’s name and opening a trust fund for her benefit.

The claimant stated that the relationship later deteriorated after she discovered that her husband had contracted other marriages in Nigeria and Britain. She said he subsequently relocated to the UK and later demanded a refund of the money, despite knowing it had already been invested for their child. She said her life was threatened when she explained that the funds were no longer available.

She added that her husband reported her to the police over allegations of theft. While officers at Elemoro Police Station, Ibeju-Lekki, initially granted her bail after hearing her explanation, she said the situation escalated on 7 January 2025, when officers from the Force CID Annex, Alagbon, arrested her and her eight-year-old daughter at gunpoint and took them to Alagbon.

According to the claimant, she was verbally abused, humiliated, and detained for several hours without being allowed to fully state her case, all in the presence of her minor daughter. She said the officers demanded N2 million for her release but eventually compelled her to pay N500,000 through a POS operator.

She told the court that her lawyers petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, who directed that the matter be handled by the Zone 2 Police Command and treated as a civil dispute. Despite this directive, she said the officers proceeded to file criminal charges against her, which were later withdrawn after senior police authorities described the dispute as civil and matrimonial in nature.

She said the police officers continued to interfere with the property transaction by instructing the estate developer not to release documents relating to the Lekki property purchased for her daughter. She added that the actions of the respondents caused her and her child severe emotional and psychological trauma.

In her application, Hussaini is seeking an order restraining the respondents from further arresting, detaining, or harassing her over the dispute; a refund of the N500,000 paid; and an order preventing any attempt to sell, investigate, or interfere with the property purchased in her daughter’s name. She also asked the court to award N50 million in damages against the police officers and her estranged husband.

She further seeks a declaration that the police lack constitutional authority to intervene in matrimonial disputes or to engage in debt recovery arising from civil transactions. (The Guardian)

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