SIX persons who participated in the 2020 #EndSARS protests have been freed by a Lagos State Magistrate Court in Ogba after almost four years in prison.
They are Adigun Sodiq, Salaudeen Kamilu, Daniel Joyinbo, Kehinde Shola, Azeez Isiaka and Sodiq Usseni.
Bolanle Osunsanmi, the court magistrate, discharged them on Thursday, August 23.
The defendants were released after pleading guilty to a reduced charge filed by the Lagos State government on August 22, 2024.
The charge alleged that they engaged in behaviour likely to disrupt public peace, contravening Section 168(d) of the Lagos State Criminal Law of 2015.
The director of public prosecutions, Babajide Martins, said they committed the offence on November 23, 2020, at approximately noon in the Ebute Metta area of Lagos.
Martins told the court that the defendants acted in a way that could have disturbed public order, said to be a punishable offence under the state’s laws.
According to Section 168(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, the offence of conduct likely to cause a breach of peace carries a penalty of either a three-month imprisonment, a fine of N15,000, or both, at the court’s discretion, considering the case’s severity and circumstances.
Before sentencing, the judge Osunsanmi asked the defendants if they understood the implications of their guilty pleas.
The defendants acknowledged understanding and accepting the terms of the plea bargain agreement as stated in the amended charge.
The prosecution requested that the court impose a sentence consistent with the guilty plea agreement, while the defence lawyer, T.D. Ojeshina asked the court to show mercy and consider a lenient sentence.
The judge after weighing the arguments presented by both the prosecution and defence lawyers, took into account the time the defendants had already spent in custody, indicating that their period of detention would be factored into the sentencing decision.
“In light of the fact that these men have been in prison for nearly four years, I find them guilty as charged but will discharge them as they have already spent more than the required term of punishment,” she said.
In October 2020, a protest to stop police brutality, now referred to as the EndSARS protest, was championed mainly by young people against constant harassment and extortion by a police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
The protest, which shook the foundation of cities like Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Abuja, was positioned as leaderless but came out with demands which included compensation for the families of those who died due to police brutality, the release of arrested protesters, and an increase in the salaries and allowances of police officers.
However, On October 20, 2020, a few weeks into the protest, Amnesty International claimed that the Nigerian army and police killed at least 12 protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos in an attempt to disperse the protesters forcefully.
Following this, the government quickly announced that it had disbanded the SARS unit, and in its place, a new tactical team, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) would be set up.
A reporter with the ICIR
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