Court Declares EFCC Raid on Metro Digital Unlawful, Bars Further Interference

The Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has declared the raid on Metro Digital Ltd by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) unlawful and a violation of the company’s fundamental rights.

Delivering judgment on May 4, 2026, Justice Chinelo Odili held that the anti-graft agency acted outside its mandate when it stormed the premises of Metro Digital on October 16, 2025, over a copyright dispute involving MultiChoice Nigeria.

The court found that the dispute, which arose from sublicensing of broadcasting content rights, is a civil matter already adjudicated by the Court of Appeal in Suit No: CA/PH/CS/188/2021 and currently pending before the Supreme Court of Nigeria under Appeal No: SC/CV/1248/2022.

According to court records, EFCC operatives, allegedly acting on a Preservation Order obtained by MultiChoice at the Federal High Court, carried out the raid, during which they seized equipment and records belonging to Metro Digital and arrested its staff, as well as an employee of another company operating within the same premises.

Dissatisfied with the action, Metro Digital filed Suit No: PHC/3943/FHR/2025 at the Rivers State High Court, challenging the EFCC’s involvement in what it described as a purely civil dispute that does not fall within the commission’s statutory powers.

The court also noted that in a related development, Justice A.T. Mohammed of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, had on December 10, 2025, set aside the Preservation Orders and declared their execution unlawful. He further ordered the EFCC to unconditionally return all items seized during the raid—an order the agency has yet to comply with.

In her ruling, Justice Odili held that the arrests, seizure of property, and disruption of Metro Digital’s broadcasting operations were unlawful and unjustified.

She subsequently issued a perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC, MultiChoice, as well as other security agencies including the police and the Department of State Services (DSS), from further harassment, arrest, or interference with Metro Digital’s business over the dispute.

The court also awarded N10 million in damages jointly against the EFCC and MultiChoice in favour of Metro Digital Ltd.

Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the company, Dr. Anetochukwu Nworgu, described the ruling as a reaffirmation of the judiciary’s role as the last hope of the common man.

He argued that the decision serves as a check against monopolistic tendencies in Nigeria’s broadcasting sector, despite reforms introduced by the Federal Government through the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) Code (6th Edition), which seeks to curb exclusive content control and promote competition.

Nworgu added that the judgment represents a victory for Nigerians affected by what he described as unhealthy monopolisation in the industry, noting that “the judiciary has once again risen to the occasion, regardless of whose ox is gored.”