Lawyer Asks Court To Dismiss Alleged Ponzi Scheme Promoter’s Rights Breach Suit
A human rights lawyer, Chief Tony Abdullahi Dania, has urged a Federal High Court, Lagos, to dismiss a N100 million fundamental rights enforcement suit, filed by one Mrs. Joy Odiaka, a promoter of an alleged Ponzi Scheme called ‘OMEGAPRO’.
Apart from asking the court to dismiss the suit in its entirety, Chief Dania is also asking the court to award a ‘substantial exemplary cost’ of N20 million, in his favour against Mrs. Odiaka.
The applicant, through her lawyer, Chijioke Joseph Jiakponna, has dragged the lawyer alongside six others before the court in a suit marked FHC/L/CS/1444/2025.
Others listed as second to sixth respondents in the suit are: CP Saadat Ismail; Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG); Commissioner of Police (Admin); SP Bolaji Abdullahi (Team Leader Surveillance Section); and DSP Yahya (IPO), all of Force Criminal Investigation Departments (ForceCID) Annex Alagbon Close Ikoyi.
The applicant has asked the court to the followings: “a declaration that the invitation to arrest, detain, embarrassing, intimidating, and harassment of the applicant is unconstitutional, abuse of power, illegal and breach of the enforcement of fundamental rights of the applicant.
“An order restraining the respondents, their agents, privies and representatives from arresting, detaining, embarrassing, intimidating and harassing of the applicant forthwith.
“An order directing the first respondent to exercise patience for the further maturity of the business.
“An order awarding damage to the tune of N100 million to the applicant, for the incessant invitation, embarrassment, intimidation and harassment.
“And for such further and other orders as this Honourable court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.”
But the human rights lawyer in his counter-affidavit to the suit, after chronicled what transpired between him and the applicant, urged to to dismiss the suit in its entirety, and to award a ‘substantial exemplary cost’ of N20 million, against the applicant.
Parts of Chief Dania’s counter-affidavit aveerments read: “That paragraph 3 and 4 of the Affidavit deposed to by the Applicant in support of her application brought under the FREPRs 2009, styled thereon as Originating Summons, hereinafter called O. S, is true only to the extent that, she was introduced to me by one Engineer Jovita Okafor, a retired Asst Director of Finance of Chevron, and that she can handle financial investments, and I entrusted her and believed in her, and the first investment we did in OMEGAPRO turned out to be fraud, I filed complaint against the promoters of OMEGAPRO.
“That sometime in February 2024, the applicant introduced another investment schemes, and she collected cash of $5, 000 USD from me, and in a week thereafter she received another cash of $5, 000 USD from me in trust to invest in the said scheme, in my name, all to the knowledge of my office Accountant Madam Victoria Osuman; there was no returns and no dividends, then I invited her.
“That the applicant has no evidence that she invested the funds in issue, she could not explain what she did with the money, she claimed to have invested the money but chd not provide any evidence.
“That the applicant breached the blind trust I had for her, and when I demanded for her statements of account with Union Bank, to verify if she did not convert the funds, she stopped picking or responding to my calls and messages, even when Engr Jovita Okafor advised her to return the funds, and I made a formal complaint to the Police against the Applicant for criminal breach of trust and criminal conversion of the said funds, but I insisted that the Police should first carried out a discreet investigation to ascertain her likely criminal culpability before inviting her.
“That the applicant once asked me to assist to aid in the payment of the school fees of her child in Canada at the material time, which declined; so, my suspicion that she must have used the funds in issue to pay the said school fees or part thereof was confirmed by the Police, hence she was formally invited.
“That the rights of the Applicant has not in anyway been infringed or threatened, as she was invited and instead of reporting to the Police, she filed this instant action, merely calculated to delay the investigation of the criminal complaint against her by the Police.
“That based on our past business relationships, she now used the opportunity to defraud me by soliciting funds from me to help me invest in forex trading, an exercise that was completely orchestrated by the applicant to defraud me using the smokescreen of investing in forex trading on my behalf, because I had a blind trust for her.
“That the applicant, ab initio, represented herself to be an expert in funds investments, and because of my pre-existing relationship with Engr Jovita Okafor who introduced her to me, over 5 years ago, she earned my trust, but she negatively exploited that blind trust I had for her, based on that trust, I invested the sum of $10,000.00 USD cash (Ten, Thousand Dollars) of my hard-earned money in the contraption she floated.
“That she informed me that if I invested the said sum or more, that she will return profits on investments to me. And that I did not make a mala fide report to the office of the 2nd respondent but based on my harrowing experience in the hands of the applicant and accomplices.
“That as a Nigerian citizen, I have a duty to report criminal activities of the Applicant to the 2nd to 6th respondents, who, in turn, have the constitutional rights to either arrest and or formally invite the applicant, as a Suspect to come and help in the investigations of the complaint which I made against her; and a mere invitation was sent to her, she pleaded for time, but rushed to court to file this suit.
“That as a law-abiding citizen of Nigeria, I did not want to resort to selfhelp hence I petitioned the offices of the 2nd respondent who administratively assigned my petition to the 3rd and 6th respondents respectively.
“That the application filed by the applicant was deliberately filed in other to cover the judicial eye of the court and an attempt for her to deceive the court and delay the investigations of the complaint made against her.
“That from all the things that transpired between the applicant and the 2nd to 6th respondents, I only did my bidding as a good citizen of Nigeria by reporting a crime that was committed by the applicant against me, and the 2nd to 6th respondents took action by doing their duty. So, the action of the 2nd to 6th respondents in its entirety has nothing to do with me, but I know that they have not done anything illegal to warrant this suit
“That it will be in the interest of justice to dismiss this suit with substantial exemplary cost.
“That I verily believe that this application is a delay tactics employed by the applicant to frustrate, delay, sabotage ongoing investigations of the subject matter of the fraud perpetuated by the applicant and her accomplices and prevent the 2nd to 6th respondents from performing their duties carrying out their constitutional duties.”
Meanwhile, Justice Deinde Dipeolu adjourned to August 12, 2025, for hearing of the suit.