Tonto Dikeh Sued For ₦200 Million Over Schoolgirl Deliverance Video

A Human rights lawyer Ikechukwu Obasi has dragged Nollywood actress and self-proclaimed evangelist Tonto Dikeh before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja.

The lawyer is demanding ₦200 million in damages over an alleged violation of a schoolgirl’s fundamental rights.

The lawsuit centres on a video shared on Facebook on March 6, 2026, which showed Tonto Dikeh’s “deliverance” session involving a Junior Secondary School 1 student.

The young girl, who is from Rivers State, was seen in her school uniform while being held down on a rocky surface outside her school.

Obasi took legal action against the actress over the alleged mistreatment of the schoolgirl during what he described as an aggressive religious deliverance session.

The lawsuit was filed under the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009.

The lawyer, who filed the case on behalf of the minor, is asking the court to issue several orders against Dikeh, including the payment of ₦200m in damages for allegedly breaching the child’s rights to dignity and privacy.

The affidavit states, “On 6th March, 2026, I stumbled upon a viral footage and photos on the official Facebook page of the Respondent, Tonto Dikeh, a Nollywood actress showing the Respondent carrying out a vicious religious exorcism on a female school child wherein the child was laid on bare ground while being pressed against the stony surface despite the Respondent wearing artificial finger nails; harassing, and publicly shaming the child.”

Obasi argued that the alleged treatment was degrading and could cause lasting psychological harm to the child.

“The actions of the Respondent did not just constitute degrading treatment of the school child but exposed her to contempt, public shame, and likely unspoken child trauma,” the affidavit stated.

He further claimed that posting the photos and video online breached the child’s right to privacy as protected by Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and the Child Rights Act of 2003.

“The Respondent’s unauthorised publication of the photos and video footage of the vicious religious rite she carried out on the school child constitutes a violation of the child’s privacy,” the court filing added.

Obasi also warned that portraying the girl as someone possessed by evil spirits and attempting to cast out demons could subject her to ridicule and discrimination, particularly among her classmates and peers.

According to him, such conduct goes beyond the bounds of religious expression and instead places the child at risk of stigma and social ridicule, especially within the cultural setting in which the incident occurred.

The lawyer is asking the court to rule that the alleged deliverance performed by Dikeh represents a clear violation of the child’s fundamental right to dignity, as provided under Section 34 of the Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Child Rights Act.

He is seeking a declaration that subjecting children to exorcism or harmful religious practices in the name of spiritual deliverance infringes on their fundamental rights.

Obasi wants the court to compel Dikeh to remove the photos and videos of the incident from all her social media accounts and to publish a formal apology to the child and Nigerian children in three national newspapers.

He also asked the court to issue a permanent injunction preventing the actress from carrying out similar religious rituals on any child in Nigeria in the future.

Furthermore, the lawyer is requesting that the court award ₦200 million in damages, arguing that the child has already experienced stigma and negative attention since the incident became public.

At the time of filing this report, the court had not yet fixed a date for the hearing of the case.

KanyiDaily recalls that Tonto Dikeh recently revealed that she is making a change in her life and no longer wants to be called “King Tonto Dikeh.”