A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Nigeria Police Force to pay ₦10 million in damages to 22 citizens and three civil society organisations for the unlawful arrest and detention of #EndSARS memorial protesters in October 2024.
Justice Musa Kakaki, in a judgment delivered on Thursday, ruled that the police violated the fundamental rights of the protesters who had gathered peacefully at the Lekki Tollgate to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS demonstrations.
The applicants — including notable rights advocates such as Hassan Taiwo Soweto, Ugochukwu Prince, and Aisha Omolara — were arrested and held for several hours in a police van without charge before being released later the same day.
The protest, which drew activists under the banners of the Education Rights Campaign, Take It Back Movement, and the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, was aimed at drawing attention to the unmet demands of the 2020 anti-police brutality uprising.
In their suit, the applicants sought redress for what they described as a brazen violation of their constitutional rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.
Justice Kakaki agreed with their argument, ruling that the actions of the police amounted to an abuse of power and a breach of the 1999 Constitution.
The respondents in the suit included the Inspector-General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the chairman of the Lagos State Task Force, the Governor of Lagos State, and the state’s Attorney-General.
The judgment is widely seen as a victory for civil liberties and a warning to law enforcement authorities against the use of force to stifle dissent.
Reacting to the ruling, one of the applicants, Jennifer Rita Obiora, said, “This judgment is a bold message to security agencies that Nigerians will not surrender their rights to fear or intimidation.”
The #EndSARS protests, which erupted nationwide in 2020, called for the disbandment of the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and an end to police brutality.
The Lekki Tollgate became a flashpoint following the alleged shooting of unarmed demonstrators on October 20, 2020 — a date that has since become symbolic in the country’s civic resistance history.
While the ruling is subject to appeal, civil society organisations have hailed the decision as a judicial affirmation of the right to protest and demand accountability from government institutions.
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