The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Nigerian Police to pay ₦10 million in damages to peaceful #EndSARS protesters whose fundamental rights were trampled during a commemorative march at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2024.
This occurred as a landmark verdict that reverberates with the chants of justice long demanded.
Delivering the ruling on July 24, 2025, Justice Musa Kakaki declared that the actions of the police—ranging from harassment to unlawful arrests—constituted a grave violation of the protesters’ constitutional rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, as enshrined in Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution.
The plaintiffs—22 individuals, including activists like Hassan Taiwo Soweto and Uadiale Kingsley, backed by civic organizations such as the Education Rights Campaign, Take It Back Movement, and Committee for the Defence of Human Rights—had filed the suit as a fundamental rights enforcement action.
Justice Kakaki emphasized that while law enforcement agencies have a mandate to maintain order, this power must be wielded within the bounds of democracy and human dignity. He also struck down attempts by the police to justify their actions using a January 2024 Lagos High Court judgment that restricted protests to designated areas, clarifying that the order could not apply retroactively to the October memorial.
This judgment joins a growing list of legal victories linked to the #EndSARS movement. Just last year, the ECOWAS Court of Justice ordered the Nigerian government to compensate DJ Switch, Perpetual Kamsi, and Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka with ₦2 million each for abuses suffered during the 2020 Lekki Toll Gate shootings. In 2023, a Lagos High Court similarly awarded ₦5 million in damages to Adedotun Clement, a ride-hailing driver brutalized during the 2021 protest anniversary.
Why It Matters:
This ₦10 million ruling serves as a resounding affirmation of the legal and moral legitimacy of the #EndSARS movement. It strengthens the precedent that peaceful protest is not a crime—and that those entrusted with upholding the law cannot operate above it. As public pressure mounts, the verdict is also a clarion call for accountability and institutional reform in Nigeria’s law enforcement system.
