Sowore files N500m suit against Lagos CP, Nigerian police for ‘unlawfully’ declaring him wanted

Mr Sowore said the Lagos police commisser's public declaration tagging him a wanted person was unlawful and violated his constitutional liberties.

Human rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters Omnoyele Sowore has sued the Nigerian police for N500 million after the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, declared him wanted.

Mr Jomoh publicly declared Mr Sowore wanted on Monday for attempting to lead a protest on the Third Mainland Bridge over the demolition exercise in poor settlements of Oworonshoki in the state.

The activist said Mr Jimoh’s declaration was unlawful and violated his constitutional liberties.

In the suit filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday, Mr Sowore sued the Nigeria Police Force alongside the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and Mr Jimoh, as the respondents.

The suit sought the enforcement of Mr Sowore’s constitutional rights to dignity, liberty, freedom of movement, expression, and peaceful assembly as guaranteed under the Nigerian constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

In an affidavit of urgency sworn by him, accompanying the suit, Mr Sowore said he was declared wanted without any prior invitation, warrant, or formal charge.

He argued, through his team of lawyers led by Tope Temokun, that the police action had impaired his constitutional rights and unlawfully damaged his reputation as a journalist, activist, and former presidential candidate.

He added that he would have honoured any lawful invitation extended to him.

Mr Sowore asked the court to restrain the police from harassing, intimidating, or arresting him and to set aside the public declaration labelling him “wanted.”

He also prayed for an order awarding N500 million in general and exemplary damages against the defendant “for the unlawful, unconstitutional, and oppressive violation” of his fundamental rights.

In separate applications filed along with the substantive suit, Mr Sowore sought an order allowing him to serve the respondents through substituted means and an interim injunction halting the effect of the police declaration pending the hearing of the substantive motion.

Mr Sowore sought an interim order restraining the police from further tagging him as wanted pending the hearing of the motion on notice and another staying the operation of Mr Jimoh’s public declaration.

He stated that failure to grant the injunctions would expose him to continuing harassment.

Police stand their ground

Despite the lawsuit, the Lagos Commissioner of Police has insisted that his declaration remains valid.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, Mr Jimoh said Mr Sowore failed to report to the police as allegedly agreed by his lawyer.

“My declaration that Sowore is wanted is still in force,” he said.

The commissioner stated that Mr Sowore’s lawyer contacted him via text while he was responding to a riot and was referred to the Officer-in-Charge of Legal.

According to him, the lawyer agreed that Mr Sowore would appear at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, where the investigation is being handled.

“But throughout yesterday, he failed to report,” he said. “We will do everything within the ambit of the law to get him arrested, investigated, and prosecuted.”

Mr Jimoh maintained that he had the legal authority to declare Mr Sowore wanted and urged critics to seek redress in court.

The commissioner also dismissed Mr Sowore’s allegation that the Inspector-General of Police ordered that he be “shot on sight.”

He described the claim as “major misinformation,” insisting that the IGP would never issue such an order.

Mr Sowore had alleged in a post on X that he was specifically targeted by the police during Monday’s anti-demolition protest.

“In Lagos earlier today, I was targeted by @PoliceNG during an anti-demolition protest in Oworonshoki. The deadly squads were sent by Kayode Egbetokun, the illegal Inspector General of Police,” he wrote.

But denying the allegation, Mr Jimoh said, “For him to say that the IGP ordered that he be shot is mischievous,” Mr Jimoh said. “It shows Sowore is planning—and has even begun—to cause mayhem across Lagos. That is why I declared him wanted.”

How it started

On Monday, Mr Jimoh declared Mr Sowore wanted over a plan to stage a protest against the demolition of buildings in Oworonshoki, Lagos.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Mr Jimoh made the announcement near the Third Mainland Bridge, where security operatives were deployed to prevent possible disruption and protect critical infrastructure.

“As the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, I hereby declare Omoyele Sowore wanted,” he said at the briefing.

The commissioner accused Mr Sowore of circulating video recordings from a moving vehicle while refusing to present himself to the police.

“We are closing in on him wherever he is,” Mr Jimoh said. “He came down in Abuja — why is he afraid to come down in Lagos?”

He also revealed that 13 persons had been arrested in connection with the planned protest.

Monday’s declaration adds to a series of confrontations Mr Sowore has had with the police and the State Security Service (SSS) in 2025.

In October, he spent several days in prison in Abuja following his arrest by the police over the #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest on 20 October.

At least three sets of charges have been filed against him this year.

One case stemmed from his description of President Bola Tinubu as a “criminal” in social media posts — comments he refused to delete despite warnings from the SSS.

Another charge arose after he referred to Inspector-General of Police Kayode Egbetokun as an “illegal IGP.”

The latest case concerns his role in a protest demanding the release of Biafra agitator Nnamdi Kanu.

Oworonshoki demotion

Oworonshoki residents have staged protests against the demolition exercise in their communities.

Residents allege that the demolitions, often carried out at night, have displaced several families without adequate compensation.

The exercise forms part of Lagos State’s urban renewal drive, which has also seen the removal of shanties and makeshift structures under bridges across the city.

Officials insist the move is to reclaim public spaces and enhance security, critics say it worsens homelessness and hardship among low-income residents.

The Lagos State Government has defended the demolitions, describing the cleared structures as illegal and criminal hideouts. But rights activists—including Senior Advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana—have accused the government of violating a subsisting court injunction restraining further demolitions.

On Sunday, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, urged the state government to pursue urban renewal in a manner that protects residents—reflecting growing calls for a more humane approach to development in Africa’s largest city.