Written by Henry Ojelu, Henry Obetta, and Victor Ahiuma-Young
Yesterday, the controversy surrounding the protests against alleged illegal demolitions, forced evictions, and land grabbing in Makoko, Oworonsoki, and other parts of Lagos intensified as activist and protest leader Hassan Taiwo, also known as Soweto, accused Moshood Jimoh, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, of personally organizing an attack on peaceful demonstrators.
Taiwo, a spokesperson for the #EndBadGovernance Movement in the state and a leader of the Coalition Against Demolition, Forced Eviction, Land Grabbing, and Displacement in Lagos, made the accusation following his and another activist, Dele Frank, also known as Arole Fela, being arraigned before a Yaba Chief Magistrate’s Court for the protest.
Residents and activists gathered outside the Lagos State House of Assembly, Alausa, on Wednesday to protest what they termed as an increase in forced evictions and illegal demolitions in low-income and waterfront areas. The activists were arrested during the event.
Speaking after being released on bond, Taiwo said that CP Jimoh personally ordered police to assault him during the demonstration. He claimed he was badly battered in an attempt to suppress voices against forced evictions in Lagos.
“The attack on me was personally led by the CP. The CP and other police officers violently beat me. They almost killed me. I’m going to sue him for the assault. Taiwo claimed, “The goal is to silence me and others.”
He added that there was a plot to have him arrested again when he was freed on bond. “A Yaba Magistrate’s Court gave me bail this afternoon. After my attorney, Chief Femi Falana, SAN, obtained my release, the police intended to re-arrest me, but they were unable to do so. He threatened to take the police commissioner to court, saying, “It is clear they have the mandate to silence us.”
In a joint statement signed by its National Coordinator, Michael Adaramoye Lenin, and National Secretary, Francis Nwapa, the Youth Rights Campaign, or YRC, confirmed Taiwo and Frank’s bail. The company revealed that the case had been postponed until March 11, 2026.
The group stated, “We appreciate the overwhelming solidarity and pressure mounted by comrades, civil society organizations, and well-meaning Nigerians who demanded their immediate release.”
However, YRC cautioned that no amount of intimidation would stop activists from fighting against forced eviction and land grabbing in Lagos.
“We must make it very clear to CP Moshood Jimoh, the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, that the fight against land grabs, forced evictions, and state repression in Lagos State will not end.” We won’t be silenced by intimidation, the statement continued.
Additionally, the group said that Taiwo was abused during the demonstration, with police blindfolding and restraining him while his garments were ripped. The act amounted to an assault on democracy and behavior unworthy of a senior police officer, according to YRC.
PDP criticizes violence
In response, the Peoples Democratic Party, or PDP, in Lagos State denounced what it called the Nigeria Police’s brutal and unprovoked attack on peaceful demonstrators on Wednesday, calling it a stain on “our democracy.”
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) strongly condemns the unprovoked and violent assault on peaceful protesters by the Nigerian Police on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at the Lagos State House of Assembly,” the statement said.
“To exercise their fundamental right to dissent, the demonstrators, who were mostly from Makoko and the adjacent areas, had congregated at the Alausa complex. They only wanted to express their displeasure with the violent, cruel, and getting harsher demolition operations that are currently destroying their ancestral dwellings. They were confronted with excessive force, batons, and tear gas instead of being heard.
“Our democracy was tarnished by the events at the House of Assembly. Under the guise of “urban renewal” and “safety setbacks,” the Lagos State Government conceals a humanitarian catastrophe. Whose house is next, the PDP wonders? No Lagosian, whatever of position, is safe from the caprices of a land-hungry administration if the government can act against the weak in Makoko without following the proper legal procedures.
Activists are arrested by police
Taiwo and Dele Frank have been charged with five counts of conspiracy, behavior likely to cause a breach of peace, threats, unlawful assembly, obstructing traffic, and singing derogatory lyrics against the Lagos State Government and police, according to the Lagos State Police Command.
The defendants, along with others who are still at large, are accused of committing the crimes on January 28, 2026, at Allen Avenue, Alausa, and inside the Lagos State House of Assembly premises, according to prosecuting attorney Anthony Ihiehie.
He stated that the activists threatened members of the public who refused to join the protest, stopped the highway with a vehicle fitted with a public address system and sang insulting songs with intent to agitate and degrade the image of the administration. He claimed that the offenses violated Sections 411, 56, 57, and 57(c) of Lagos State’s 2015 Criminal Law.
Both defendants entered not guilty pleas to the accusations.
When human rights attorney Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, announced his appearance on behalf of the accused, the proceedings took a sharp turn. The prosecution protested, citing a ruling from the Oyo State High Court in 2025 that it said prohibited Nigerian Senior Advocates from participating in lesser courts.
Falana refuted the objection, claiming that the 1999 Constitution’s Section 36(6)(c) protects each defendant the right to have a lawyer of his choosing represent him. Additionally, he referenced Section 9 of the Lagos Magistrates’ Court Law, which clearly permits all attorneys, regardless of status, to appear before the state’s magistrates’ courts.
Falana’s submission was upheld by Magistrate Mrs. I.O. Alaka, who ruled that appearing before Magistrates’ Courts was not restricted by the SAN rank. The case was then postponed until March 11, 2026, after she gave the accused N200,000 apiece in bail, along with two responsible sureties in the same amount. Falana claimed personal responsibility for their appearance in court.
