Investigative journalist Zainab Sodiq has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja against Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS), seeking N4 billion in damages over her alleged unlawful arrest, detention, and confiscation of her work equipment.
The suit names the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Director-General of the DSS, the DSS, and a DSS operative identified as Abdulwahab Habib as defendants.
According to court documents, Sodiq was travelling from Lagos to Abuja when airport security officials intercepted her after discovering she was carrying a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone. She was subsequently handed over to DSS operatives.
The documents stated that after the drone was seized, a DSS officer informed her that ownership of the device required an End User Certificate and instructed her to visit the agency’s Abuja office to retrieve her property.
However, Sodiq alleged that when she reported to the DSS office on July 8, 2026, instead of having her drone returned, she was arrested at gunpoint and taken to the agency’s national headquarters.
She claimed she was detained until July 10, 2026, without being charged before a court or accused of any offence. She also alleged that she was denied immediate access to her family while DSS operatives questioned her extensively about her investigative journalism before eventually releasing her.
Despite her release, Sodiq alleged that the DSS continues to retain her personal and professional equipment, including an iPhone 13 Pro, Samsung Galaxy A15, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 16 Pro Max, and the DJI Mavic Air 2 drone, which she described as essential tools for her investigative reporting.
In her suit, Sodiq argued that the DSS’s reliance on what it described as “NSA Extant Regulations” to justify her arrest and detention is unconstitutional. She maintained that no law enacted by Nigeria’s National Assembly prohibits the ownership or transportation of a DJI Mavic Air 2 drone, which she described as a commercially available consumer product.
She asked the court to declare that her constitutional rights to dignity, personal liberty, privacy, property, freedom of expression, and fair hearing were violated.
Sodiq further requested an order directing the DSS to return all seized items unconditionally, restrain the defendants from further violating her rights, and award her N2 billion in general damages and an additional N2 billion in exemplary damages for the alleged rights violations and abuse.
