A fundamental rights enforcement suit has been filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, by investigative journalist Zainab Sodiq against the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), the Department of State Services, and DSS operative Abdulwahab Habib over her unlawful arrest, detention and continued seizure of her professional equipment.
According to the court processes, the Applicant was travelling from Lagos to Abuja when aviation security officials intercepted her over her possession of a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone and handed her over to a DSS officer identified as ifeanyi . After confiscating the drone, Ifeanyi informed her that it required an End User Certificate and directed her to collect it from another DSS officer, Musa, in Abuja.
The Applicant alleges that when she arrived at the DSS office in Abuja on 8 July 2026 to retrieve the drone, the invitation turned out to be a ruse. She was immediately arrested at gunpoint, and her personal belongings retrieved from the cab waiting outside of the DSS premises and was taken to the DSS National Headquarters.
The suit states that she was detained incommunicado until 10 July 2026, denied prompt access to her family and interrogated over her journalistic activities, and released without being charged before any court.
The suit challenges the constitutionality of the Respondents’ actions and seeks judicial declarations that the Applicant’s rights to dignity, personal liberty, privacy, freedom of expression, property and fair hearing were violated contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Despite her release, the Applicant contends that the DSS has continued to retain her iPhone 13 Pro, Samsung Galaxy A15, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and DJI Mavic Air drone, which she describes as essential tools of her profession as an investigative journalist.
A central issue in the suit is the Respondents’ reliance on what they described as the “NSA Extant Regulations” concerning the possession of drones without an End User Certificate (EUC). The Applicant argues that no Act of the National Assembly criminalises the mere possession or transportation of her commercially available drone and that executive directives or administrative regulations cannot create criminal offences or justify arrest and detention in the absence of a valid written law as required by Section 36(12) of the Constitution.
The Applicant is asking the Federal High Court to declare that:
– her arrest and detention violated her constitutional rights to dignity and personal liberty;
– the reliance on non-legislative “NSA Extant Regulations” as the basis for her arrest is unconstitutional;
– the continued seizure of her phones and drone violates her constitutional rights to privacy, property, freedom of expression and press freedom;
– the Respondents’ actions are unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void.
She is also seeking:
– an order directing the immediate and unconditional release of all her seized devices;
– a perpetual injunction restraining the Respondents from further violating her constitutional rights;
– ₦2,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion Naira) as general damages;
– ₦2,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion Naira) as exemplary and aggravated damages; and
– such further orders as the Court may deem fit.
Counsel to the Applicant, Peter Femi Joseph, described the suit as one that raises important constitutional questions regarding the limits of executive power, the protection of journalists, digital privacy, and the rule of law.
According to him, the case presents an opportunity for the Federal High Court to determine whether security agencies may lawfully arrest and detain citizens based on executive directives that have not been enacted into law by the National Assembly, and whether investigative agencies can continue to retain journalists’ phones and equipment indefinitely without judicial authorisation or pending criminal proceedings.
The suit also seeks to reaffirm the constitutional guarantees protecting press freedom and to ensure that investigative journalists are able to carry out their professional responsibilities without arbitrary interference by state authorities.
