A Lagos-based videographer, video editor and journalist, Ms Zainab Sodiq, who was arrested and detained early in July 2026 for allegedly being in possession of an Unmaned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) without an End User Certificate (EUC), has filed a suit against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), the agency and one of its operatives, Mr. Abdulwahab Habib, challenging her arrest, detention, and continued seizure of her professional equipment, including four phones and a drone, as unlawful.
According to court processes, Ms Sodiq was intercepted in Abuja over her possession of a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone by aviation security officials while travelling from Lagos to Abuja. She was handed over to a DSS officer identified as Ifeanyi, who confiscated the drone and informed her that it required an End User Certificate, which he directed her to collect from another DSS officer called Musa, in Abuja.
The suit challenges the constitutionality of the respondents’ actions and seeks judicial declarations that her rights to dignity, personal liberty, privacy, freedom of expression, property, and fair hearing were violated contrary to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Ms Sodiq said when she arrived at the DSS office in Abuja on July 8, 2026, on the agency’s invitation to retrieve the drone, she was arrested at gunpoint, and her personal belongings retrieved from the cab waiting outside of the DSS premises, confiscated, and taken to the DSS National Headquarters.
The suit states that she was detained incommunicado until July 10, 2026, denied access to her family, interrogated over her journalistic activities, and released without being charged before any court.
Ms Sodiq is asking the Federal High Court to declare that:
- her arrest and detention violated her constitutional rights to dignity and personal liberty;
- the reliance on non-legislative “NSA Extant Regulations” as the basis for her arrest is unconstitutional;
- the continued seizure of her phones and drone violates her constitutional rights to privacy, property, freedom of expression, and press freedom;
- the Respondents’ actions are unconstitutional, unlawful, null, and void.
She is also seeking:
- an order directing the immediate and unconditional release of all her seized devices;
- a perpetual injunction restraining the respondents from further violating her constitutional rights;
- ₦2,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion Naira) as general damages;
- ₦2,000,000,000.00 (Two Billion Naira) as exemplary and aggravated damages; and
- such further orders as the Court may deem fit.
Ms Sodiq contends that despite her release, the DSS continues to retain essential tools of her profession as an investigative journalist, including her iPhone 13 Pro, Samsung Galaxy A15, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and DJI Mavic Air drone, which the agency confiscated from her.
She argues that contrary to the respondents’ reliance on what they described as the “NSA Extant Regulations” concerning the possession of drones without an End User Certificate (EUC), no Act of the National Assembly criminalises the mere possession or transportation of her commercially available drone and that executive directives or administrative regulations cannot create criminal offences or justify arrest and detention in the absence of a valid written law as required by Section 36(12) of the Constitution.
The suit also seeks to reaffirm the constitutional guarantees protecting press freedom and to ensure that investigative journalists are able to carry out their professional responsibilities without arbitrary interference by state authorities
Her counsel, Mr Peter Femi Joseph, described the suit as one that raises important constitutional questions regarding the limits of executive power, the protection of journalists, digital privacy, and the rule of law. He said the case presents an opportunity for the Federal High Court to determine whether security agencies may lawfully arrest and detain citizens based on executive directives that have not been enacted into law by the National Assembly, and whether investigative agencies can continue to retain journalists’ phones and equipment indefinitely without judicial authorisation or pending criminal proceedings.
