Democratic Socialist Movement

For Struggle, Solidarity and Socialism in Nigeria

By - DSM

LAGO: DROP TRUMPED-UP CHARGES AGAINST SOWETO AND DELE FRANK OVER ANTI-DEMOLITION STRUGGLE NOW!

Soweto Sues Former Lagos Commissioner of Police Moshood Over Brutalisation

A Call for Solidarity

Hassan Taiwo Soweto, member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) and spokesperson of #EndBadGovernance Movement Lagos, and Dele Frank (Arole Fela) are currently standing sham trail before a magistrate court in Yaba, Lagos on the trumped-up charges preferred against them by the Lagos State Police Command over their participation in a protest on January 28, 2028.

The charges include conspiracy to cause a breach of peace, threatening violence, unlawful assembly, obstructing traffic, and singing abusive songs against the police and government! We call for the dropping of these charges as the trial is an attempt to use the court to legalise brazen attacks on democratic rights and criminalise peaceful protest against anti-poor actions of the government.

It should be recalled that Soweto and Dele Frank were arrested and subsequently detained during a mass protest against unjust demolition and forced eviction of several poor peoples’ communities in Lagos on January 28, 2026. The protest was brutally repressed by the police, leading to many protesters sustaining injuries.

For playing a leading role in the protest, Soweto was specifically targeted and singled out for physical assault and severe torture by the police – an action that was directly supervised by the then Lagos State Commissioner of Police Jimoh Moshood. The brutal attack caused a serious damage to his lower back something for which, since his release on bail pending trial by court on January 29, he has been undergoing a regular treatment including a weekly physiotherapy session.

Soweto has instituted a fundamental rights action suit at the Federal High Court Ikoyi Lagos against Jimoh Moshood and the police, demanding official condemnation and damages.  This is important in order to make a bold statement that no police officer or security operative should brutalise or torture people without being made to personally account for their action.

In the last few years, the Lagos State Government has been on a demolition spree of markets and communities of poor people without adequate compensation and alternative provision. While the official reason for the eviction is usually public safety or non-compliance to a so-called masterplan, the real objective is to grab the land from the poor and allocate it to the rich, ruling party stalwarts and top government functionaries. In other words, the poor people are evicted from their property for the purpose of gentrification in line with the touted megacity agenda of the state government. In carrying out the eviction and demolition, police and thugs are usually deployed to unleash terror on the owners and occupiers of the targeted property, causing deaths and injuries.

The above is the background to the January 28 protest which was a joint mass action by ordinary people from many communities and markets affected by the forced eviction. The communities involved include Makoko, Oworonshoki, Owode Onirin, Ajegunle, Bariga, Otumara and Otodogbami.

The arrest and the frivolous charges against Soweto are in line with the measures by the government of Bola Tinubu and the APC at all levels to stifle dissent and criminalise opposition against their anti-poor policies and actions. For instance, ahead of the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests in August 2024, the Lagos state government secretly procured a “black-market” order from the state high court against Soweto and 3 other activists which imposed restrictions on protests in the state.

Good enough, the working people, youth and activists have refused to surrender their fundamental rights to the undemocratic machination of the state government. Indeed, eleven activists including Soweto and other members of #EndBadGovernance Lagos won a legal victory through a Federal High Court judgement of July 24, 2025 which reaffirmed the fundamental rights to hold protest actions in the state and also awarded N10m as damages against the police. The activists had been unlawfully arrested and detained for holding a peaceful protest to mark the 4th anniversary of #EndSARS massacre on October 20, 2024 in Lagos. Meanwhile, the Lagos government has filed an appeal against the judgement.

We call on the trade unions, civil society and left organisations, socialists and activists, locally and internationally, to join us to resist the attempt by the police and Lagos state government to annul right to protest in the state. It is in line with this that we call for different forms of solidarity actions including demonstrations and protest letters and messages to call on the Police and Lagos State Government to withdraw the frivolous charges against Soweto and Dele Frank. We call for solidarity action at every court sitting at both the Magistrate Court Yaba and Federal High Court Ikoyi Lagos.

 

We call for support for the following demands:

 

  • Withdrawal of trumped-up charges against Hassan Taiwo Soweto and Dele Frank by the Police and Lagos State Government.

 

  • A public probe of the assault, brutalization and torture of Soweto by the Former Commissioner of Police Jimoh Moshood.

 

  • Immediate end to demolition and forced eviction in Lagos and adequate compensation for the victims.

 

  • Stop attacks on democratic rights and respect rights to peaceful protest.

 

  • Reverse all anti-poor policies.