The Lagos Chapter of the #EndBadGovernance Movement has strongly condemned what it describes as a violent crackdown by the Lagos State Police Command on peaceful protesters raising concerns over forced evictions and demolitions in low-income communities.
In a statement issued on behalf of the organising committee by Comr. Oloye Adegboyega-Deniji, Comr. Blessing Osugba, and Comr. Seyi Akinde, the group accused the police, led by Commissioner of Police Fatai Jimoh, of using excessive force against demonstrators in Makoko, Oworoshoki, Owode-Onirin, Ajegunle, and other parts of Lagos State.
The protest, which took place on Wednesday, January 28, 2026, saw residents, including elderly citizens, march from Ikeja Under-Bridge to Alausa carrying petitions and seeking an audience with the Lagos State House of Assembly over recurring demolitions. Organisers insist the gathering was peaceful, orderly, and constitutionally protected.
The statement claims that when four lawmakers denied protesters access to the Assembly complex, civil society leaders, including Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto, instructed participants to sit calmly outside. Video evidence, the group says, confirms the protesters remained nonviolent despite repeated police harassment.
According to the organisers, police responded with teargas, resulting in injuries and hospitalisations, including among journalists and medical volunteers present to assist. The statement alleges lawmakers failed to intervene or restrain the police.
The movement also disputed police claims that the protest was “unruly” and that a coffin recovered at the scene indicated disorder. Organisers clarified that the coffin was a symbolic gesture representing lives lost to forced evictions, including infants, and was handed over to the police for delivery to the governor.
Comrade Soweto, the statement notes, was wrongly accused of verbal abuse when in fact he had urged calm throughout the protest. The group described his subsequent abduction as premeditated, linking it to his public criticism of police brutality during demolitions.
The #EndBadGovernance Movement called on the Lagos State Government, House of Assembly, and police to respect constitutional rights to free expression, peaceful assembly, and media freedom. They held the Assembly complicit for failing to protect citizens and criticised the government for ongoing forced evictions and urban violence.
The movement further demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto and Dele Frank, adequate compensation for all injured protesters, the return of property confiscated during the protest, an end to criminalization of peaceful protest and the use of lethal force, a halt to all illegal demolitions, and the suspension of Commissioner of Police Fatai Jimoh for his role in the violent disruption.
The statement concluded with the call: “Release Soweto now. End police brutality. Stop forced evictions.”
