The Federal High Court in Lagos, has restrained the Inspector-General of Police and other senior officers from arresting, detaining, or interrogating popular on-air personality and comedian, Chinedu Emmanuel Ani, popularly known as Nedu Wazobia, in connection with a contractual dispute with a business partner.
Justice D. Dipeolu granted the interim order following an ex-parte application filed by Nedu and five others seeking the protection of their fundamental rights.
The order specifically restrains the Inspector-General of Police, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police at Alagbon, and their officers from summoning or detaining the applicants over a dispute with the 6th to 8th respondents: Metropolitan School of Business and Management, Mr. Victor Ariyibi-Oke, and Mrs. Tolulope Ariyibi-Oke.
Also joined in the suit are Ngozi Braide, Stephen Onihane, and Inspector Echeng Julius. Other applicants include Sarah Williams-Konha, Avalon Okpe, Ada Okpe, Barbara Okwaranobi, and Tokindrumz Pictures and Media Nigeria Ltd.
In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu ordered the police and their agents to refrain from taking further steps against the applicants pending the hearing of the substantive motion on notice for enforcement of their fundamental rights. However, the court declined a second request to compel the police to maintain the status quo on all matters relating to the disputed transaction.
Through their counsel, J. Dong, the applicants argued that their business partners were using the police to intimidate them over what was essentially a civil dispute
They told the court that the matter had earlier been investigated for about nine months by the X-Squad of the AIG’s office at Alagbon in 2024, and that the investigation report cleared Nedu and his team of any criminal liability.
According to them, the police legal department also issued a formal advice confirming the case was contractual in nature and that any aggrieved party should seek redress in court.
Despite this, the applicants alleged that the 6th to 8th respondents secretly submitted a second petition to the same Alagbon office, this time to the team led by Ngozi Braide. They claimed that Braide and her team disregarded the earlier report and legal advice, placed them under caution again, and continued to harass them.
They further alleged that the police team’s conduct amounted to abuse of power, claiming that one of the respondents even assaulted their former lawyer before they engaged their present counsel.
Providing background to the dispute, the applicants explained that Nedu and his team had partnered with the respondents in early 2024 for an educational charity initiative aimed at raising school fees for underprivileged students. The project featured a high-profile fundraising gala, which the respondents had agreed to sponsor at a cost of over N83 million.
Although the event, held in March 2024, successfully generated both pledges and cash donations, the respondents allegedly demanded a refund of N60 million without justification. Following the breakdown of the partnership, the respondents petitioned the police, leading to repeated summons and alleged harassment of the applicants.
They told the court that some of them were unlawfully detained in July 2025, while others had their international passports seized by the police.
