Justice Musa Kakaki of a Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered a N30 million fine against the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, for unlawfully pronouncing rights activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, a wanted person.
In a judgment delivered yesterday on a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Sowore against the police, the judge held that the designation of Sowore as a wanted person in Lagos last year was illegal and unconstitutional, saying that the permission of a court of law was required to declare a citizen wanted.
Justice Kakaki further held that no Nigerian can be criminalised for speaking, protesting, or holding the government accountable. The judge condemned the lawlessness of the Commissioner of Police and held the Inspector-General of Police accountable for that misconduct.
“To declare a person wanted, there must first be an issuance of a warrant, proper notice, and proof that a citizen is evading lawful process before the court, if convinced, will give the nod to the police or any agency interested in issuing the declaration to proceed”, Justice Kakaki held.
The judge further held that the Lagos CP’s warning on 27th October, 2025, ordering Sowore to stay away from Lagos, was arbitrary, unconstitutional, and beyond police powers.
He added that the public declaration of 3rd November, 2025, designating the activist as wanted was illegal, ultra vires, unconstitutional, and a grave abuse of power. Sowore had last year slammed a N500 million suit on the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, for ‘unlawfully’ declaring him wanted.
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Nigerian Police Force were joined as co-respondents in the suit. The Lagos CP had declared Sowore wanted for allegedly attempting to lead a protest on the Third Mainland Bridge over the demolition exercise in poor settlements of Oworonshoki by the state government.
Dissatisfied with Jimoh’s action, Sowore filed a fundamental rights suit to enforce his 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.
