ABUJA, Nigeria — A serving officer of the Nigerian Army, Colonel Mohammed Alhassan Ma’aji, filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government of Nigeria at the Federal High Court of Nigeria in Abuja on Monday, April 27, 2026, seeking his release from detention and N500 million ($300,000) in damages for the alleged violation of his fundamental rights.
Ma’aji, through his counsel led by Olalekan Ojo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, filed the originating motion under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009. Okay News reports that the military officer was arrested on or about September 30, 2025, following allegations of conspiring to overthrow the government.
The lawsuit names the Attorney General of the Federation, the Chief of Army Staff, the Nigerian Army, and the Chief of Defence Intelligence as respondents. The legal team alleges that the incarceration of Ma’aji for over six months without formal charges constitutes a breach of his constitutional rights to personal liberty and human dignity under the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
A litigation officer in the chambers of the counsel for Ma’aji deposed in an affidavit that the applicant has been held incommunicado since his arrest with no formal charges brought against him. No hearing date has been fixed for the case.
