A prominent Lagos socialite, Gail Fajembola, has instituted a legal action against the Nigeria Police Force, seeking a declaration that the police have no right to interfere in what she describes as a purely civil dispute involving an apartment located at the upscale Ocean Parade Towers in Banana Island, Ikoyi, Lagos.
In the suit filed before the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, and marked FHC/L/CS/2025, Fajembola, through her legal counsel Akin Apara of BA LAW LLP, is asking the court to intervene in what she terms a persistent campaign of intimidation and harassment allegedly orchestrated by the police at the instance of private individuals. The respondents in the suit include the Inspector General of Police, the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 2, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, one Ogbonna Nweke, a property development firm, Olutoyl Estate Development & Services Ltd, and a businessman, Tunde Ayeni.
Fajembola’s legal team is urging the court to affirm that the ongoing threats of arrest and police intimidation violate her constitutional rights, especially as the matter in question revolves around a civil disagreement over the possession and use of an apartment, specifically Flat K9-2 at the luxury Ocean Parade estate. She maintains that the police have no business intervening in what is clearly a personal matter, reportedly stemming from a previously cordial relationship that turned sour between her and Mr. Ayeni, listed as the sixth respondent.
In her motion, she asserts that any move by the police to arrest or detain her over the disagreement amounts to an abuse of power and a breach of her fundamental rights as guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), particularly Sections 35(1), 36, 41(1), and 46(1), which protect personal liberty, dignity, and freedom of movement.
As part of her reliefs, Fajembola is also seeking a perpetual injunction to restrain the first to fourth respondents—the IGP, the AIG Zone 2, the Lagos Commissioner of Police, and Mr. Nweke, from further harassing or threatening her in any manner that undermines her rights. She contends that the deployment of police personnel to enforce or intimidate her over a private residential dispute is both unlawful and unconstitutional.
In a 10-paragraph affidavit sworn to by one Olawale Arowosaye, a litigation clerk in the law firm representing her, the court was informed that the police action was initiated following the deterioration of a personal relationship between the applicant and Mr. Ayeni. The affidavit suggests that the involvement of the police was a means of coercion to pressure her into vacating the apartment, despite the matter lacking any criminal elements.
The applicant is therefore praying the court to award her ₦50 million in general damages for what she calls the unlawful infringement of her fundamental rights through threats, harassment, and intimidation allegedly perpetuated by the police on the instruction of private individuals.
The matter is yet to be assigned for hearing, but legal observers note that the case once again raises critical concerns about the misuse of the Nigerian police in civil disputes, particularly among high-net-worth individuals.
