By Victor Ahiuma-Young, Henry Ojelu & Henry Obetta
Controversy trailing the protests against alleged illegal demolitions, forcible evictions and land grabbing in Makoko, Oworonsoki and other parts of Lagos deepened yesterday, as activist and protest leader, Hassan Taiwo, popularly known as Soweto, accused the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, of personally leading an assault on peaceful protesters.
Taiwo, a leader of the Coalition Against Demolition, Forced Eviction, Land Grabbing and Displacement in Lagos and spokesperson of the #EndBadGovernance Movement in the state, made the allegation after he and another activist, Dele Frank, also known as Arole Fela, were arraigned before a Yaba Chief Magistrate’s Court over the protest.
The activists were arrested on Wednesday during a demonstration at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Alausa, where residents and campaigners had gathered to protest what they described as increasing incidents of illegal demolitions and forced evictions in waterfront and low-income communities.
Speaking after being granted bail, Taiwo alleged that CP Jimoh personally led policemen to attack him during the protest. He claimed he was severely beaten in an attempt to silence voices opposing forced evictions in Lagos.
“The CP personally led the attack on me. I was severely beaten by the CP and other policemen with him. They nearly killed me. I will sue him over the attack. The aim is to silence me and others,” Taiwo alleged.
He further claimed that there was a plan to re-arrest him after his release on bail. “I was granted bail this afternoon by a Yaba Magistrate’s Court. The police planned to re-arrest me after my lawyer, Chief Femi Falana, SAN, secured my bail, but they could not. It is obvious they have the mandate to silence us,” he said, vowing to pursue legal action against the police commissioner.
The Youth Rights Campaign, YRC, confirmed the bail of Taiwo and Frank in a statement jointly signed by its National Coordinator, Michael Adaramoye Lenin, and National Secretary, Francis Nwapa. The group disclosed that the case had been adjourned to March 11, 2026.
“We appreciate the overwhelming solidarity and pressure mounted by comrades, civil society organisations and well-meaning Nigerians who demanded their immediate release,” the group said.
YRC however, warned that the struggle against forced eviction and land grabbing in Lagos would continue unabated, insisting that no amount of intimidation would deter activists.
“We must make it abundantly clear to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Moshood Jimoh, that the struggle against forced eviction, land grabbing and state repression in Lagos State will continue. No amount of intimidation will silence us,” the statement added.
The group also alleged that Taiwo was brutalised during the protest, claiming his clothes were torn and that he was blindfolded and restrained by police officers. According to YRC, the incident amounted to an attack on democracy and conduct unbecoming of a senior police officer.
PDP faults brutality
Also, reacting, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State condemned what it described as the unprovoked and violent assault by the Nigeria Police on peaceful protesters on Wednesday, describing the incident as a stain on “our democracy.”
The party, in a statement issued by its Acting Publicity Secretary, Dr. Christopher Odianarewo, also challenged the Lagos State Government to “come clean” on its true interests in the Makoko waterfront.
The statement read: “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) strongly condemns the unprovoked and violent assault by the Nigerian Police on peaceful protesters on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, at the Lagos State House of Assembly.
“The protesters, primarily residents of Makoko and surrounding communities, had gathered at the Alausa complex to exercise their fundamental right to dissent. They merely sought to voice their grievances over the aggressive, inhumane and worsening demolition exercises currently ravaging their ancestral homes. Instead of being heard, they were met with teargas, batons and brute force.
“The scenes at the House of Assembly were a stain on our democracy. While the Lagos State Government hides behind the veil of ‘urban renewal’ and ‘safety setbacks,’ the reality on the ground is a humanitarian disaster. The PDP asks: whose house is next? If the government can move against the vulnerable in Makoko without due process, no Lagosian, regardless of status, is safe from the whims of a land-hungry administration.”
Police arraign activists
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command has arraigned Taiwo and Dele Frank on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, conduct likely to cause breach of the peace, threats, unlawful assembly, obstruction of traffic and singing abusive songs against the police and the Lagos State Government.
Prosecuting counsel, Anthony Ihiehie, told the court that the defendants, alongside others still at large, allegedly committed the offences on January 28, 2026, at Allen Avenue, Alausa, and within the Lagos State House of Assembly premises.
He alleged that the activists threatened members of the public who refused to join the protest, blocked the highway with a vehicle fitted with a public address system and sang abusive songs with intent to provoke and tarnish the image of the government. The offences, he said, contravened Sections 411, 56, 57 and 57(c) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges
Proceedings took a dramatic turn when human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, announced his appearance for the defendants. The prosecution objected, citing a 2025 Oyo State High Court judgment which it claimed barred Senior Advocates of Nigeria from appearing before lower courts.
Falana faulted the objection, arguing that Section 36(6)(c) of the 1999 Constitution guarantees every defendant the right to be defended by a legal practitioner of his choice. He also cited Section 9 of the Lagos Magistrates’ Court Law, which expressly allows all legal practitioners, irrespective of rank, to appear before Magistrates’ Courts in the state.
In her ruling, Magistrate Mrs. I.O. Alaka upheld Falana’s submission, holding that the rank of SAN was not a restriction to appearance before Magistrates’ Courts. She subsequently granted the defendants bail in the sum of N200,000 each, with two responsible sureties in like sum, and adjourned the case to March 11, 2026. Falana undertook personal responsibility for their appearance in court.
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