LAGOS — A Federal High Court in Lagos has dealt a significant legal blow to Nigeria’s top police hierarchy, ruling that the declaration of activist and journalist Omoyele Sowore as a wanted person by Lagos police authorities was illegal, unconstitutional, and an abuse of power.
Justice M. Kakaki, delivering a judgment that lasted one hour and thirty minutes, ordered the Commissioner of Police for Lagos State, CP Moshood Jimoh, and the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to pay ₦30 million in damages to Sowore, who had filed the suit to challenge actions taken against him on November 3, 2025.
The court found that a warning issued by the Commissioner of Police on October 27, 2025 — ordering Sowore to stay away from Lagos — was arbitrary, unconstitutional, and beyond the lawful powers of the police. The subsequent declaration branding Sowore as wanted was further condemned as ultra vires and a grave abuse of authority.
In a ruling with far-reaching implications for civil liberties in Nigeria, Justice Kakaki held that only a court of law — following the issuance of a warrant, proper notice, and proof that a citizen is evading lawful process — can authorize the declaration of any Nigerian citizen as wanted. The judgment traced the historical use of such declarations and concluded that the law had evolved well beyond permitting police authorities to unilaterally brand citizens as fugitives. The Inspector-General of Police was held vicariously liable for the misconduct of the Lagos Commissioner of Police.
Tope Temokun, counsel to Sowore, described the ruling as a landmark constitutional statement. “Today’s judgment stands as a loud constitutional warning against the abuse of state power in Nigeria,” he said in a statement following the verdict. “The real victory lies in the profound jurisprudential value of the judgment — no Nigerian can be criminalized for speaking, protesting, or holding government accountable.”
Temokun cautioned, however, that the victory must not be taken for granted. “One problem with Nigerians is the lack of will to consolidate on their gains,” he said, urging citizens to build on the ruling as a reaffirmation that questioning authority is not a crime and that citizenship does not mean submission to unlawful power.
Sowore, a perennial presidential candidate and publisher of Sahara Reporters, has faced repeated clashes with Nigerian security forces over the years in connection with his activism and political activities.
