January 31, 2026 | News
By SUNTV Global Channel
A fresh wave of controversy has erupted around the Lagos State Police Command following allegations that the Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, personally led a violent crackdown on peaceful protesters, including prominent activist Hassan Taiwo Soweto, during a recent anti-eviction and anti–land-grabbing demonstration in Lagos.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Saturday, revolutionary activist Francis Nwapa described the alleged attack on Soweto as a “premeditated and deliberate act of state terror,” insisting that the violence was neither accidental nor a routine outcome of crowd control.
According to Nwapa, graphic evidence that surfaced after Soweto was granted bail shows severe injuries allegedly inflicted under the direct supervision of the police commissioner.
“The brutal assault on Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto during the anti-eviction, anti-demolition, and anti–land-grabbing protest in Lagos was not an accident of policing; it was a deliberate act of state terror personally led and participated in by CP Moshood Jimoh,” Nwapa stated.
He alleged that eyewitness accounts and visible injuries indicate that the commissioner not only issued orders but personally joined officers in beating Soweto, repeatedly kicking and brutalising him while he was defenceless.
Nwapa further claimed that Soweto was handcuffed with his hands behind his back, had his clothes torn and used to blindfold him, and was subjected to what he described as humiliation and torture before being forcefully taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, Yaba.
At the facility, Soweto was allegedly thrown into a cell and deliberately denied food and water.
“This was torture, not lawful arrest or crowd control,” Nwapa said, describing the treatment as inhumane and degrading.
The allegations extend beyond Soweto. Nwapa claimed that police violence during the protest affected residents and demonstrators in Oworoshoki, Makoko, and Owode-Onirin, including elderly persons, women, and children.
He alleged that peaceful protesters were tear-gassed, beaten, and shot with live ammunition, with several victims reportedly sustaining gunshot wounds to the legs. Some, he said, remain hospitalised, while others allegedly lost their lives.
“These were unarmed civilians exercising their constitutional right to protest,” he said.
Nwapa accused the Lagos State Police Command under Jimoh’s leadership of acting “as a private army for land grabbers and powerful interests,” alleging a consistent pattern of repression, killings, maiming, and torture.
He further described the alleged actions as crimes against humanity, claiming the commissioner’s “hands are stained with the blood of innocent Nigerians.”
The activist called for the immediate removal of CP Moshood Jimoh and demanded his prosecution under international law, including the Geneva Conventions.
“Justice must be served for Soweto, for the injured, for the dead, and for all communities resisting forceful eviction and land grabbing in Lagos State,” Nwapa said.
As of the time of filing this report, the Lagos State Police Command has not issued an official response to the allegations.
