• Slams N500m lawsuit against Nigerian navy for rights violation

A team of clergymen and senior lawyers of the Anglican Church yesterday stormed Onitsha High Court in solidarity with Rev. Tochukwu Agina, a priest of the Anglican Diocese of Ogbaru, Anambra State who was battered and dehumanized by Naval men attached to Ogbaru Naval base on November 30, 2025.

Agina, a youthful priest was attacked and inflicted with various bodily injuries by the Naval Ratings who claimed that he made phone calls while driving through their checkpoint in Ogbaru.

Rev. Agina has instituted a civil suit against the Nigerian Navy at the Anambra State High Court in Onitsha, seeking N500 million in damages over the alleged violation of his fundamental human rights.

In the suit, marked No. O/MSC/572/2025, Rev. Agina said his rights to dignity of the human person, personal liberty and freedom of movement, as guaranteed under Sections 34(1) and 35(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), were unlawfully violated.

Joined as respondents in the suit are the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Navy Board, the Chief of Naval Staff, Commander Kabiru Yusuf (Commander, Onitsha/Ogbaru Naval Base), the Naval Head of Okpotouno Naval Checkpoint, Ogbaru, and other yet-to-be-identified naval officers allegedly involved in the incident.

The action was brought through a Motion Ex Parte pursuant to the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, 2009, Sections 34, 35, 36 and 46 of the Constitution, and the inherent jurisdiction of the court.

The applicant is represented by a legal team led by Sir Ejike Ezenwa, SAN, alongside Sir Ben Uzuegbu, SAN; Sir Ben Osaka, SAN; Ikem Taylor Nwanegbo; Chijioke Nwankwo; Emeka Mebo; Humphrey. C. Udechukwu; E. Ibegbu; and C. T. Bemesi.

Rev. Agina is asking the court to declare that his arrest and detention by naval officers at a naval base on November 30, 2025, were unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional.

He is also seeking a declaration that his alleged harassment, humiliation and brutalisation at the Okpotouno Naval Checkpoint, Ogbaru, constituted an improper exercise of authority and violated his constitutional rights.

According to the applicant, he was accused of answering phone calls at the checkpoint, ordered to alight from a commercial vehicle, and subsequently detained at the naval base, actions he said infringed on his rights to personal liberty, dignity and freedom of movement.

Among the reliefs sought is an order directing the respondents to tender an unreserved apology to him and to publish the apology in a national newspaper acceptable to him, as well as any other orders the court may deem appropriate.

When the matter came up for hearing, the presiding judge of High Court No. 3, Justice David Onyefulu, after listening to submissions by lead counsel, ordered that the respondents be served with all court processes through a national newspaper.

The court adjourned the matter to Thursday, January 22, for hearing.

Lead counsel to the applicant, who spoke on the matter said the alleged assault goes beyond a personal violation and constitutes “an assault on the Christian faith.”

The lawyer noted that “it is totally unacceptable that an innocent Priest in his priestly attire would be brutalized in the public glare, dehumanized without any form of restraint from the senior naval officers at the checkpoint.”

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