A Lagos High Court has extended its earlier order restricting #EndBadGovernance protesters to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota and the Peace Park in Ketu.
The extension came after the state adhered to the pre-action protocols for preemptive remedies mandated last week by vacation judge, Justice Emmanuel Ogundare.
Justice Sherifat Sonaike, the new vacation judge, issued the order on Tuesday following an application filed by Lagos State’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Lawal Pedro.
The restriction order will remain in effect until August 29, when the case is scheduled to be heard again.
During the proceedings, the state AG was represented by Director of Civil Litigations, Mr. Hameed Oyenuga. He informed Justice Sonaike that the earlier court order had been served on all respondents in accordance with the pre-action protocols.
The respondents in the suit include Adamma Ukpabi and Tosin Harsogba (representing the Active Citizens Group); Comrade Juwon Sanyaolu and Hassan Soweto (representing the Take It Back Movement); persons unknown; and the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State.
Oyenuga also mentioned that although the respondents had not yet responded to the application, extending the restriction order was necessary to maintain the relative peace in the state amidst ongoing nationwide protests.
In her ruling, Justice Sonaike expressed satisfaction with the Attorney General’s adherence to Justice Ogundare’s orders and extended the restriction to the Freedom and Peace Parks until there is full compliance with the pre-action protocols.
On July 30, Justice Ogundare granted an interim injunction restricting the protests from August 1-10 to the two approved locations, from 8 am to 6 pm, following an ex parte application filed by Pedro.
The Attorney General argued that, as the Chief Law Officer of the State, it is crucial to protect the state’s critical infrastructure and prevent potential loss of lives and property, recalling the violence during the EndSARS protests in 2020.
Pedro also emphasized that the Police lacked sufficient manpower to secure protests planned across all local government areas and public highways. He further highlighted the risk of protests being hijacked by hoodlums aiming to disrupt order and cause damage under the guise of protesting alleged bad governance.