THE presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in 2023, Omoyele Sowore has kicked against a court order granted by Kehinde Ogundare, a judge at the Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, limiting the planned nationwide protest to restricted areas.
A Lagos High Court had earlier limited protesters planning to participate in the nationwide hunger protest in Lagos to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota and Peace Park, Ketu area of the state.
The court also mandated that the protest be held between 8 am and 6 pm daily.
The proposed nationwide protest is scheduled for August 1 -10.
The restriction was granted on Tuesday, July 30, by the court presided by Emmanuel Ogundare.
The judgement was in response to a pre-emptive exparte application filed by the Lagos state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, a senior advocate.
According to the Lagos State government, the goal of the application was to preserve public safety and prevent irreversible loss of life and property in the state during the protest period.
Named in the application as co-defendants are Adamma Ukpabi and Tosin Harsogba (Active Citizens Group); Juwon Sanyaolu and Hassan Soweto (Take it Back Movement), Persons unknown and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police.
The Lagos Attorney-General argued in his application to the court that in his capacity as the state’s chief law officer and having received notices from various parties supporting and opposing the nationwide protest, he was required to safeguard the state’s vital infrastructures and avert the irreversible loss of life and property, as was the case with the 2020 EndSARS protest.
Pedro argued that there were not enough police officers in the state to meet the security needs of the demonstrators who wanted to stage protests in all local government councils, on public highways, and in other sites where the public could gather.
He added that under the guise of a public demonstration against purportedly bad governance, it was imperative to keep the protest from being taken over by thugs willing to break the law and wreak havoc in various parts of the state.
After listening to his presentation of evidence, the judge granted all the reliefs sought in the application.
The judge granted an interim injunction restraining the 1st to 5th defendants/respondents from converging and carrying out their proposed peaceful public protest, rallies, procession and meetings in Lagos State from the 1-10″ August 1-10, 2024 excerpt in the approved designated location for peaceful public protest, rallies and meetings, to wit: Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ikorodu Road, Ojota, Lagos State and Peace Park Ketu Lagos from 8 .00 am to 6 pm pending compliance with the pre-action protocol by the claimant.
The judge also granted an interim order directing the 6th defendant to protect the fundamental rights of the protesters to freedom of association, peaceful public protest, procession and tallies in the approved designated location for peaceful public protest, rallies and meetings in Lagos State at the restricted areas.
But kicking against the judgement in a post on X, Sowore described the ruling as ridiculous.
“The Attorney General of Lagos has obtained a ridiculous court order from Justice Ogundare of Lagos State High Court, Igbosere, asking Nigerian protesters in Lagos to be restricted to three locations and for protests to commence at 8 am and close 6 pm daily for the next seven days.
“Let’s remind @officialABAT that no court can order Nigerians to seek their liberty. Let the actions commence everywhere on August 1st, 2024. #DaysOfRage #RevolutionNow,” the activist tweeted.
Some Nigerians had started gathering to stage a public protest across the country tagged as #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria. T
The event intends to show the citizens’ anger over the hardships President Bola Tinubu’s administration has inflicted on citizens.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance