Imo State High Court has dismissed Chika Chukwuemeka’s $25 million privacy suit against Meta, finding insufficient evidence of unlawful data processing or privacy violations.
The High Court of Imo State has dismissed a fundamental rights suit seeking $25 million in damages from Meta Platforms Inc. over alleged violations of privacy and data protection rights.
Chika Chukwuemeka, the applicant, had sued the technology company, alleging that it collected, processed, profiled and used her personal data for behavioural advertising without her consent.
Chukwuemeka claimed that Meta’s actions violated her right to privacy guaranteed under Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution and provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) 2023.
What She Was Seeking
Among the reliefs sought by the applicant were declarations that Meta’s alleged processing of her personal data was unlawful, an order restraining further processing, and an order compelling the company to bring its data-processing activities in Nigeria into compliance with the NDPA 2023. She also sought an order directing Meta to file an affidavit confirming compliance.
Chukwuemeka claimed $10 million in general damages and $15 million in exemplary damages, as well as post-judgment interest at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) rate until the judgment debt was fully paid.
Meta’s Jurisdiction Challenge Rejected First
Before ruling on the substance of the case, Justice L.C. Alinnor of the Mbaitoli/Ikeduru Judicial Division dealt with a preliminary objection from Meta, which had argued that the Imo State High Court lacked territorial jurisdiction to hear the matter.
The judge rejected that argument, holding that the activities complained of by Chukwuemeka were accessible in Imo State, and that the provisions Meta relied on did not contain the restriction the company attributed to them. Having resolved the jurisdictional question, the court proceeded to consider whether Chukwuemeka had established a violation of her constitutional right to privacy citing a 2026 Supreme Court decision, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (Taraba State Chapter) v. AMCON, in holding that Section 37 of the Constitution protects personal information and that personal data can fall within the scope of the right to privacy.
Why the Case Failed
Delivering judgment on July 21, 2026, Alinnor held that Chukwuemeka failed to establish that Meta infringed her constitutional right to privacy or unlawfully processed her personal data.
The court found that a substantial part of the case relied on a final order previously issued against Meta by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC). Those orders had been challenged by Meta before the Federal High Court in Abuja, in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/355/2025, Meta Platforms, Inc. v. Nigeria Data Protection Commission. The Federal High Court had subsequently adopted the terms of a settlement reached by Meta and the NDPC as a consent judgment, bringing that dispute to an end and setting aside the NDPC’s final orders.
Relying on submissions by Paul Mgbeoma, counsel to Meta, Alinnor held that the NDPC’s final orders, having been set aside, could no longer form the basis of Chukwuemeka’s claims.
The judge also considered the case independently of the NDPC proceedings and found that the applicant had not provided sufficient evidence to establish a specific infringement of her privacy rights by Meta. According to the court, the remaining allegations amounted essentially to bare assertions and did not provide a sufficiently detailed factual basis on which judgment could be entered against Meta.
The court found that the applicant’s case had lost the foundation on which it substantially rested and described it as “built on nothing.” The suit was dismissed in its entirety for want of merit.
Meta had denied the allegations in the case, maintaining that users agree to the company’s terms of service when they register for Facebook and Instagram.
