|LAGOS, Nigeria|
In a resounding setback for a US-based Nigerian businessman accused of masterminding a lavish ₦1.2 billion scam, the High Court of Lagos State has tossed out his desperate attempt to play the victim card. Mr. Rolland Oluwasegun Elusoji, who police say charmed victims out of fortunes with promises of elite investments, now finds his legal shield shattered, leaving him exposed to the full weight of a pending fraud probe.
The ruling, delivered on November 28, 2025, by Hon. Justice A.G. Balogun at the Ikeja Judicial Division, dismissed Elusoji’s fundamental rights suit as utterly baseless. Elusoji, through his high-powered lawyer Dr. Wahab Shittu, SAN, had argued that the Nigeria Police Force was overstepping by declaring him wanted, claiming it violated his rights to liberty, dignity, and movement under the 1999 Constitution. He even demanded a ₦200 million payout for supposed “emotional distress” and business woes, a bold ask from someone alleged to have pocketed millions in ill-gotten gains.
But Justice Balogun wasn’t buying it. The court emphasized that police have every right to chase down suspects, even those lounging abroad, without courts meddling unless there’s blatant misconduct. “This isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card,” the judge effectively ruled, noting that extradition talks were jumping the gun since a criminal charge is already brewing at the Federal High Court in Lagos. Ogunrinde, SAN, representing key respondents, hammered home that under the Money Laundering Act, Nigerian courts can handle crimes no matter where they’re cooked up, a pointed reminder that borders won’t save alleged swindlers.
Elusoji’s troubles stem from a November 2023 scheme allegedly pulled off in the United States, where he reportedly sweet-talked investors from Nigeria into forking over ₦232 million for a shiny 2024 Mercedes Benz GLE 63S, plus ₦525 million and ₦450 million for two upscale mansions. Police bulletins paint him as the architect of a conspiracy involving false pretenses and outright theft, totaling a staggering ₦1.2 billion, enough to make even the most extravagant lifestyles blush.
While the court nodded to Elusoji’s presumption of innocence, it shredded his suit as lacking “any scintilla of merit,” underscoring that rights enforcement isn’t a loophole for evading accountability and justice.
The court decision is, in simple terms, saying the only “fundamental right” Elusoji could enforce now is the right to remain silent, while the Nigerian law sharpens handcuffs for his grand return.
