The Chief Magistrate’s Court, Wuse Zone 6, has summoned popular Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh and her bodyguard, one Gbenga, for alleged assault and trespass.
The suit, with case number CR/359/2024, was filed by the Chief Executive of Skyewise Group Limited, Elvis Abuyere, the owner of an Abuja-based car dealership company.
In the court summons dated August 6, 2024, Iyanna ordered the two defendants to appear before the court on August 24, 2024, to answer the charges against them.
He stated that Dikeh had, in January, approached the car company for the purchase of a brand-new Changan Uni-K 2023 model from Mikano Motors.
The complainant, who was reported to have a dealership relationship with Mikano, subsequently paid N85 million as full payment for the car to Mikano, with an agreement that Dikeh would pay the balance in installments within three months upon receiving the car.
The first deposit by Dikeh was her used 2008/2009 Lexus, which was worth N37 million. She made an additional payment of N3.5 million but failed to settle the balance by the end of April, at the expiration of the payment window, thereby breaching the agreement.
On May 1, Abuyere retrieved the car from Dikeh after efforts to collect the balance proved futile. Dikeh later paid N20 million, N17 million, and N5 million, leaving an outstanding balance of N2.1 million.
On July 30, the actress contacted the car company to have the car serviced, and it was taken for maintenance. Upon completion of the repairs, the car company demanded the remaining N2.7 million from her. However, she was reported to have forcefully entered the business premises of the complainant in Maitama, Abuja, alongside her bodyguard and two ladies, thereby committing “criminal trespass.”
Dikeh is also accused of assaulting the complainant and some staff members of his company. The four individuals disrupted business operations at the car company, damaged property, and threatened to use social media to harm the complainant’s business.
They were later arrested by the police.
Earlier today, the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit of the Nigeria Police Force invited Dikeh to its headquarters in connection with an investigation into criminal defamation, cyberbullying, and forgery, among other charges.
In the invitation letter signed by the Head of the IGP Monitoring Unit, A.A. Elleman, it was stated that the actress’s name prominently appeared in the investigation being conducted by the unit.
In a statement on her Instagram page on Friday, Dikeh stressed that she was neither arrested nor jailed by the “police or any law enforcement agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am in my house enjoying the goodness of God.”
The Nollywood actress noted that she’s a “law-abiding citizen”, and that getting involved in crime and criminalities is not one of the things she can be involved in.
The statement read further, “At no point in my life has there ever been a search warrant, arrest warrant or any other form of warrant from the Good office of the Nigeria police to my humble self.
“I will always honour invitations extended to me whether to help the law enforcement agencies in their job or to provide clarifications on issues. This is without prejudice to the fact that I will exercise my rights against anyone, persons or group of persons who attempt to peddle fake stories about me or my brand or defame my character. I will come for you. This is just to let those behind this false Narrative know that they failed woefully.”