ABUJA — A woman, Doris Ojuederie, has told the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, that she is living in constant fear of arrest and detention, following alleged harassment by the Nigeria Police Force over a dispute connected with her planned marriage.
Ojuederie and her fiancé, Ifeanyi Ezenwaogene, are seeking protection from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP; Nigeria Police Force, NPF; Commissioner of Police, FCT Command; Police Service Commission, PSC; Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Galadimawa Police Station; and three officers attached to the National Cybercrime Centre, NPF-NCCC.
Also joined as a respondent is Mrs Fibiawari Jonathan, whom the applicants accused of allegedly instigating the police actions against them.
In an ex-parte application filed through their counsel, Terkaa Aondo, SAN, the applicants asked the court to restrain the respondents from arresting, detaining, threatening, intimidating or otherwise interfering with their liberty, movement and private life pending determination of the substantive suit.
Ojuederie, in an affidavit before the court, alleged that she was arrested and detained on August 6, 2026, after officers attached to the NPF-NCCC arrived at her residence in Jabi, Abuja.
She claimed that her mobile phones were seized for forensic examination and that she was pressured to write a statement despite requesting the presence of her lawyer.
According to her, she was also compelled to apologise to Fibiawari before being released on bail following the intervention of her lawyer.
She alleged that the pressure did not end with her release, claiming that police officers had continued to invite and threaten her.
She told the court: “Since I left the station on the 6th of August, 2026, the Police … have been calling me persistently threatening to arrest, seize my phones, International Passport and detain me.”
Ojuederie further alleged that the police threatened to confiscate her international passport and impose an international travel ban on her.
She said the alleged threats had left her living “in constant fear” of another arrest and had affected her freedom of movement.
The applicant claimed that the dispute followed a disagreement involving Fibiawari, whom she said she had introduced to Ezenwaogene.
She alleged that Fibiawari subsequently developed an interest in her fiancé and that she reported the matter to Fibiawari’s husband after discovering what she described as an affair between them.
Ojuederie also alleged that armed police officers, accompanied by Fibiawari, visited her residence on July 10, 2026, in an attempt to arrest her.
Ezenwaogene was also allegedly invited and harassed by the police over the dispute.
The applicants argued that the matter was substantially civil and matrimonial in nature and did not warrant the alleged coercive police actions.
Their counsel urged the court to protect their fundamental rights under Sections 34, 35, 41 and 46 of the 1999 Constitution.
Counsel argued that the purpose of an interim injunction was to “maintain the status quo” and prevent the substantive suit from being rendered nugatory.
The applicants, however, clarified that the proposed order would not prevent the police from investigating “any genuine criminal offence disclosed by credible evidence” or acting in accordance with due process.
They consequently urged the court to grant the interim orders in the interest of justice.
