By John Azu
A group of lawyers has instituted a fundamental rights enforcement suit before the Enugu State High Court, seeking the dismantling of military checkpoints across the Southeast and demanding N500 billion in damages for alleged violations of citizens’ constitutional rights.
The suit, filed on June 17, was brought by Chinedu Augustine Agbodike on behalf of the people of the Southeast. The respondents are the Chief of Army Staff, the Nigerian Army, the Attorney General of the Federation, and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Represented by Barristers Aloy Ejimakor and Patrick Agazie, the applicant is asking the court to make a series of declarations and orders regarding the continued deployment of military personnel on highways in Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia states.
Among the reliefs sought is:
“a declaration that the indiscriminate deployment, establishment, operation and maintenance of military checkpoints and roadblocks by the respondents across Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia states, which have resulted in harassment, extortion, arbitrary arrests, unlawful detention, torture, degrading treatment, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of citizens, constitute violations of the fundamental rights guaranteed under sections 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41 and 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Articles 4, 5, 6, I, 11, 12 and 19 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.”
The applicant is also seeking:
“A declaration that the routine deployment of military personnel for internal policing, roadblock operations and checkpoint duties within the South-East region by the respondents without express constitutional or statutory authorization is unconstitutional, unlawful, illegal, null and void, and same constitute abuse and violation of the fundamental rights of the people of South Eastern part of Nigeria.”
The suit further asks the court to declare:
“A declaration that the assumption by the lst and 2nd respondents (the Nigerian Army and the Chief of Army Staff) of internal policing functions constitutionally vested in the Nigeria Police Force under Section 214 of the Constitution amounts to an unlawful usurpation of powers and is therefore unconstitutional and same constitutes abuse and violation of human rights of the people of South Eastern Nigeria.”
The applicant also contends that:
“A declaration that the excessive militarization of Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia States amounts to an unjustifiable and disproportionate interference with the rights to freedom of movement, personal liberty, human dignity and freedom from discrimination guaranteed under Chapter IV of the Constitution, thereby violating the constitutional rights of the people of South Eastern Nigeria.”
On alleged profiling of citizens at checkpoints, the suit seeks:
“A declaration that the discriminatory profiling and targeting of citizens by the 1st and 2nd respondents at various military checkpoints/roadblocks on the roads of Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, Anambra and Imo states on account of their ethnicity, age, mode of dressing, hairstyle, tattoos, language, physical appearance or perceived affiliations is unconstitutional, illegal, oppressive and a violation of their Constitutional rights under Chapter IV of the Constitution, particularly Section 42 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.”
The applicant is also asking the court to issue:
“An order directing the lst and 2nd respondents to immediately dismantle, remove and discontinue all military checkpoints and routine roadblocks operating on federal and state roads within Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia states except where such deployments are specifically authorised by law and justified by exceptional security circumstances, in accordance with due process of law.”
In addition, the suit seeks:
“An order directing the 3rd respondent (the Attorney General of the Federation) to establish an independent, transparent and comprehensive investigative mechanism to identify, investigate and prosecute all military personnel implicated in incidents of brutality, extortion, torture, unlawful detention, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings committed at military checkpoints within the South-East region from 2018 to date.”
The applicant is demanding:
“An order awarding the sum of N500,000,000,000.00 (Five hundred billion naira) as exemplary, aggravated and general damages against the respondents jointly and severally for the widespread and continuing violation of the fundamental rights of citizens of the South-East Region of Nigeria.”
Other reliefs sought include:
“An order directing the Respondents to issue a formal public apology to the citizens of Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia States in at least three national newspapers and on national television stations for the infringement of their fundamental rights as constitutionally guaranteed.”
And:
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the respondents, whether by themselves, their officers, agents, servants, privies or any persons acting under their authority, from establishing, maintaining or redeploying military checkpoints or roadblocks in the South-East region except in circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution, an Act of the National Assembly or a lawful declaration of emergency.”
The legal action comes amid growing concerns over the extensive military presence on roads across the Southeast. Various studies and advocacy groups have reported that more than 200 military checkpoints are located along major highways in the region, often at intervals of about 10 kilometres. The deployments have largely been linked to security operations targeting separatist activities associated with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Civil society organisations, including the Foundation for Environmental Rights, Advocacy and Development (FENRAD) and the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), have alleged that the checkpoints have become channels for widespread extortion. According to the groups, motorists and commuters lose an estimated N1.3 trillion annually to illegal payments, while security personnel allegedly collected more than N21.8 billion during the peak holiday travel period between December 2024 and January 2025.
The organisations have also accused some operatives of using the checkpoints to harass travellers and carry out unlawful arrests, actions they say have contributed to cases of deaths and disappearances in the region.
As of the time of filing this report, no date had been fixed for the hearing of the suit.