John Fashanu, a former British-Nigerian footballer who once played for a handful of topflight English clubs, has sued the Nigerian police and is demanding N201,096,700 compensation over what he termed the violation of his rights by “wrongfully arresting him”.

Fashanu is also accusing the police of wrongfully arresting Vivian, his wife, and Chinyere Chigbu, his lawyer, over what he described as a civil dispute. The matter is currently being heard at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The former Wimbledon and Aston Villa forward is taking action after he was arrested and detained for two days by the police in Abuja for his involvement in a land sale scam in 2017.

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Fashanu is claiming the ordeal has left him ‘traumatised’ and unable to pursue a job as Nigeria’s national team football coach, a position he claimed he was in contention for until his arrest.

Drama began when a group of investors agreed to pay an equivalent of over N1 billion for a 22-acre land “he had been marketing to them”. It turned out the land belonged to a different owner and it was not for sale at the time.

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Fashanu was said to have personally pocketed N46.3 million from the transaction. He reportedly agreed to pay back the money, describing the incident as a “business deal that had gone south”.

At the time of his arrest, the police accused him of criminal conspiracy, threat to life, intimidation, trespass and obtaining by false pretence.

The case has been adjourned until April 10.