A Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Inspector-General of Police and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to pay N10 million in damages to some #EndSARS protesters for violating their fundamental rights.
Justice Musa Kakaki, the trial judge, ruled that the applicant/protesters were unjustly harassed and had their constitutional rights violated while participating in the fourth memorial demonstration on October 20, 2024.
Justice Kakaki also ruled that, while law enforcement forces have constitutional authority to preserve order, such authority must be utilised within the framework of democracy and the rule of law.
The judge confirmed the applicants’ fundamental right to peaceful assembly and association under the Nigerian Constitution.
Applicants before the court include Hassan Soweto, Uadiale Kingsley, Ilesanmi Kehinde, Osopale Adeseye, Olamilekan Sanusi, and Miss Osugba Blessing, among others.
They were joined by organisations like the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), the Take It Back Movement (TIBM), and the Campaign for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR).
The #EndSARS demonstrators in the suit stated that throughout the parade, police officers used live ammunition and tear gas, severely attacked protesters, and made arbitrary arrests.
They further claimed that the arrested demonstrators were held in a Black Maria (mobile detention cell) for many hours before being taken to Panti Police Station, where they were detained for four hours before being released.
“The 1st–3rd respondents deployed the full might of the police force against the applicants under the guise that they exercised their constitutionally guaranteed rights outside a location permitted by the 4th and 5th respondents,” Joseph Opute, a lawyer for the applicants, stated in the suit.
In an affidavit, Hassan Soweto, the first applicant and coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign, said that he and other demonstrators were attacked, tear-gassed, and arbitrarily jailed without charge.
