Court orders police to halt tagging Sowore as wanted person

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday ordered the Lagos State Commissioner of Police and the Nigeria Police Force to suspend tagging human rights activist and Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore, as a wanted person.

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The judge Musa Kakaki gave the interim order following an ex parte application filed by Mr Sowore through his lawyer, Tope Temokun.

Mr Sowore was declared wanted by the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, on Monday, for attempting to lead a protest on the Third Mainland Bridge against demolition of houses in Oworonshoki.

On Wednesday, the activist filed a N500 million suit to challenge the declaration. Alongside the suit, he filed an ex parte application, accompanied by an affidavit of urgency, seeking an interim injunction against the police’s action pending the hearing of the main suit.

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Granting the request on Wednesday, Mr Kakaki issued an interim order suspending the declaration of Mr Sowore wanted by the police, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

“An order of interim injunction is hereby granted restraining the respondents, particularly the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, whether by themselves, their servants, agents, officers, or privies, from harassing, intimidating, threatening arrest, arresting, or further declaring or representing the applicant as a ‘wanted person’ pending the hearing of the substantive suit,” the judge ruled.

The judge then adjourned further hearing till 14 November.

In a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES on Wednesday, Mr Sowore’s lawyer, Mr Temokun who argued the application in court, described the ruling as “another day of victory for the rule of law.” He argued that the police declaration was made without any lawful order or warrant.

“The order restrains the police from giving effect to, or acting upon, the illegal declaration of Omoyele Sowore as ‘wanted’,” he said. “It stands as a loud statement that no citizen can be stripped of liberty or dignity by arbitrary police action.”

Mr Sowore had filed the ex parte application alongside his substantive suit seeking N500 million damages against the police for earlier declaring him wanted on Monday. He sued the Nigeria Police Force alongside the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and Mr Jimoh, as the respondents.

The activist said Mr Jimoh’s declaration tagging him as a wanted person was unlawful and violated his constitutional liberties.

The suit sought the enforcement of Mr Sowore’s constitutional rights to dignity, liberty, freedom of movement, expression, and peaceful assembly as guaranteed under the Nigerian constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

In an affidavit of urgency sworn by him, accompanying the suit, Mr Sowore said he was declared wanted without any prior invitation, warrant, or formal charge.

He argued, through his team of lawyers led by Tope Temokun, that the police action had impaired his constitutional rights and unlawfully damaged his reputation as a journalist, activist, and former presidential candidate.

He added that he would have honoured any lawful invitation extended to him.

Mr Sowore asked the court to restrain the police from harassing, intimidating, or arresting him and to set aside the public declaration labelling him “wanted.”

Oworonshoki demotion

Oworonshoki residents have staged protests against the demolition exercise in their communities.

Residents allege that the demolitions, often carried out at night, have displaced several families without adequate compensation.

The exercise forms part of Lagos State’s urban renewal drive, which has also seen the removal of shanties and makeshift structures under bridges across the city.

Officials insist the move is to reclaim public spaces and enhance security, critics say it worsens homelessness and hardship among low-income residents.

The Lagos State Government has defended the demolitions, describing the cleared structures as illegal and criminal hideouts. But rights activists—including Senior Advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana—have accused the government of violating a subsisting court injunction restraining further demolitions.

On Sunday, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, urged the state government to pursue urban renewal in a manner that protects residents—reflecting growing calls for a more humane approach to development in Africa’s largest city.