END TRIAL OF LAGOS ANTI-DEMOLITION PROTESTORS
POLICE ABSENT IN COURT IN THE CASE AGAINST HASSAN TAIWO SOWETO AND DELE FRANK AS YRC DEMANDS IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF CHARGES!
The Youth Rights Campaign (YRC) condemns the continued prosecution of Hassan Taiwo Soweto and Dele Frank by the Lagos State Police Command over their participation in the January 28, 2026 peaceful protest against forced evictions and demolitions in Lagos.
At Monday August 31’s sitting at the Magistrate Court, Yaba, neither the police nor their counsel appeared in court and the case was adjourned to October 26, 2026. The failure of the police to appear further exposes the weakness of this case and raises serious questions about why public funds and valuable judicial time continue to be wasted prosecuting citizens whose offence was participating in a peaceful protest.
Soweto was specifically targeted following his role in leading the January 28 struggle. Till today, Soweto still suffers from internal injury that affected his spinal cord as a result of the torture viciously done by Jimoh Moshood and his boys. Soweto’s arrest and subsequent prosecution must therefore be seen within the broader context of the attempt by the Lagos State Government and the then Commissioner of Police, Jimoh Moshood, to intimidate and silence those resisting the unjust displacement of working-class communities.
The police cannot claim commitment to law and order while simultaneously failing to appear in a case they initiated and have continued to maintain.
SEIZED PROPERTY PARTIALLY RELEASED AFTER MONTHS OF DELAY
The YRC also announces that some of the protest equipment and private belongings illegally seized by the police during the January 28 protest were finally released on Friday, August 28, 2026.
This follows the ruling of the presiding magistrate on May 8 ordering the release of the seized properties to the protesters.
However, the police deliberately employed delay tactics before eventually releasing part of the property. In other words, it took the police over three months to begin to obey the court order. Most disturbingly, the DJ laptop computer remains missing.
The police reportedly claimed that they had not found the laptop in their custody, but still looking for it.
This is a shocking indictment of an institution whose primary responsibility is to protect lives and property. How does a police institution take custody of a laptop but cannot account for it?
If the cannot be produced, the police must explain what happened to it and who was responsible for its custody.
We demand the immediate return of the DJ laptop or its full replacement at the expense of the Nigeria Police Force.
In the first place, the long detention of the DJ equipment for seven months, and still counting, has not been a mere inconvenience. It has deprived the owner of an essential means of livelihood and survival at a time when the working people are already being crushed by the economic hardship imposed by the APC-led government.
No government institution should have the power to seize a person’s means of livelihood and then simply claim that it cannot account for the property.
If the laptop is not immediately returned or replaced, YRC together with other civil society organizations will not hesitate to mobilize and hold peaceful mass action at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, until the police take responsibility and resolve the matter.
WITHDRAW THE CASE AGAINST SOWETO AND DELE FRANK
YRC once again demands the immediate withdrawal of charges against Hassan Taiwo Soweto and Dele Frank.
Their real offence is their courage to stand with communities facing forced evictions and demolitions and to exercise their democratic right to protest.
Those who should be answering questions are not the protesters.
Those who should be investigated and prosecuted are the officers responsible for the killings and abuses in communities facing forced eviction, those responsible for the assault and brutality against protesters on January 28, and those who ordered or participated in the violent suppression of the protest.
We specifically reiterate our demand for an investigation into the conduct of the then Commissioner of Police, Jimoh Moshood, including allegations surrounding the police response to the forced evictions in Lagos communities and the brutality suffered by protesters.
The promotion of an officer does not erase alleged violations committed while in office. Rank cannot become a shield against accountability.
Michael Adaramoye Lenin
National Coordinator
Francis Nwapa
National Secretary
YRC email: [email protected]