Speed Darlington sues NAPTIP for N3bn for declaring him ‘wanted’

Controversial rapper Speed Darlington has filed a N3 billion lawsuit against the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), accusing the agency of violating his fundamental human rights.

The suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, follows NAPTIP’s public declaration of Darlington as a wanted person over allegations of rape, cyberbullying, and cyberstalking.

The agency made the declaration on June 27, citing the rapper’s refusal to honour an invitation for questioning after he publicly claimed to have had sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl. Amid intense public criticism, Darlington later recanted the confession, saying it was a fictional narrative.

In his suit, the rapper argued that the agency’s actions were unlawful, claiming that declaring him wanted without a court order violated his constitutional rights.

“A declaration that the very act of declaring the applicant wanted… without any prior order or leave of a court of competent jurisdiction is unlawful, illegal, wrongful, ultra vires, unconstitutional, and constitutes a flagrant violation of the fundamental rights of the applicant to personal liberty, private and family life, freedom of movement, and right not to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment,” the suit read in part.

Darlington is seeking N1 billion in general damages and N2 billion in punitive damages, along with a 5% monthly interest until the full amount is paid. He also wants the court to compel NAPTIP to issue a public apology and to permanently restrain the agency and its affiliates from acting on the “wanted” notice.

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