A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to pay ₦10 million in damages to a group of #EndSARS protesters for violating their fundamental human rights during the fourth memorial rally held on October 20, 2024.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Musa Kakaki held that the protesters were unjustly harassed and that their constitutional rights were grossly infringed upon by law enforcement officers during the peaceful procession.
Justice Kakaki emphasized that while security agencies have the constitutional duty to maintain public order, such powers must be exercised within the bounds of democracy and the rule of law.
He ruled that the applicants were fully entitled to the right to peaceful assembly and association as guaranteed under the Nigerian Constitution.
The applicants in the suit included Hassan Soweto, Uadiale Kingsley, Ilesanmi Kehinde, Osopale Adeseye, Olamilekan Sanusi, Miss Osugba Blessing, and several others. They told the court that on the day of the memorial rally, police officers fired live rounds and tear gas at peaceful demonstrators, beat them, and made arbitrary arrests.
According to their statements, those arrested were allegedly detained for several hours before being transferred to the Police Station, where they were held for an additional four hours before being released without any formal charges.
In the suit, the applicants’ lawyer, Joseph Opute, argued that “the 1st – 3rd respondents deployed the full might of the police force against the applicants under the guise that they exercised their constitutionally guaranteed rights outside a location permitted by the 4th and 5th respondents.”
In a sworn affidavit, Hassan Soweto—the first applicant and coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign—stated that he and other protesters were beaten, tear-gassed, and unlawfully detained during the rally, describing the ordeal as a brazen assault on civil liberties.
