On March 11, 2026, Hassan Taiwo Soweto, member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) and spokesperson of #EndBadGovernance Movement Lagos, and Dele Frank (Arole Fela) are expected to appear before a magistrate court in Yaba, Lagos for the commencement of a sham trial on the trumped-up charges preferred against them by the Lagos State Police Command over their participation in a peaceful protest.
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 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 by court on January 29, he has been undergoing a regular treatment including a weekly physiotherapy session.
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 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 on or before March 11 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.
By and large, 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 Commissioner of Police Jimoh Moshood and his men.
- Release of all items including public address system, laptop computers, generator, first aid box, etc which were unlawfully seized by the police during the January 28, 2026 protest against forced eviction in Lagos.
- Immediate end to demolition and forced eviction in Lagos and adequate compensation to the victims.
- Stop attacks on democratic rights and respect rights to peaceful protest.
- Reverse all anti-poor policies.
Below is a model protest letter. Protest letters and messages should be sent to
The Commissioner of Police Lagos State
Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Tel: 08032569029.
Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice Lagos State
Email: [email protected], [email protected].
Copies of protest letters should be sent to
Youth Rights Campaign (YRC)
Signed
Adaramoye Michael Lenin
National Coordinator,
For Youth Rights Campaign (YRC)
Model letter of protest
Withdraw Trumped-up Charges against Hassan Taiwo Soweto and Dele Frank and End Attacks of Democratic Rights
I/We write to demand the immediate withdrawal of trumped-up charges preferred against Hassan Taiwo Soweto, spokesperson of #EndBadGovernace Movement Lagos, and Dele Frank (Arole Fela), a musician, by the Lagos State Police Command over their participation in a peaceful protest against the unjust demolition of and forced eviction of poor people from their homes by the Lagos State Government on January 28, 2026. We understand that their trial is expected to commence on March 11, 2026 at the Magistrate Court Yaba Lagos.
I/We believe that the trial is an attempt to legalise attacks on democratic rights, stifle dissent and criminalise peaceful protest. Protests are a part of the fabric of democratic rights that people have won over many years. We understand that even as recent as July 24, 2025 a Federal High Court in Lagos in a judgement against the Nigerian Police and Lagos State Government reaffirmed the fundamental rights of people to freedom of assembly including protest and indeed awarded a sum of N10million against the Nigerian police to be paid to the applicants as damages. Instructively, Hassan Taiwo Soweto was one of the applicants. The applicants had been brutally arrested and detained for holding a peaceful protest on October 20, 2024 to mark the 4th anniversary of the #EndSars massacre. So, I/we call on the Nigerian police and the Lagos State Government to end their habitual attacks on democratic rights and respect the rights of people to peaceful protest.
I/We also condemn the brutalization and torture of Hassan Taiwo Soweto by the men of the Lagos State Police Command, inflicting him with a serious damage on his lower back, for playing a leading role in the January 28 protest. I/We find it seriously disturbing the grave allegation that the physical assault was personally supervised by the Commissioner of Police Jimoh Moshood. We demand a public probe of this bestial action of the police by an independent panel that must include the representatives of Nigerian Bar Association, Nigerian Medical Association, trade unions, civil society and media.
I/We demand immediate release of the items unlawfully seized by the police at the January 28 anti-demolition protest. These include the equipment of the DJ hired by the protesters namely public address system, laptop computer, generator, etc. Also, callously impounded was a First Aid Box. By this unlawful action, the police have heartlessly deprived the owners of the items their livelihoods since January 28
Until the above demands are met, I/We will continue to build support for the demands in the local and international media and among the millions of working people and youth, trade unions, locally and internationally, local and international human right organisations and parliamentarians of good conscience, locally and internationally.
Signed