Court Stops Police From Declaring Sowore Wanted, Issues Restraining Order Against Lagos CP Jimoh

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State has granted an interim injunction restraining the Nigeria Police Force and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police from harassing, intimidating, threatening with arrest, or declaring human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, as a wanted person.

The interim order, issued on Wednesday by Justice Musa Kakaki, would remain in force pending the hearing of the motion on notice. 

Sowore, who spoke shortly after the ruling, described his long-standing conflict with Commissioner Jimoh Moshood, whom he accused of incompetence and political bias.

“Do you remember the man who used to work with Saraki in Kwara State?” Sowore asked. “In 2019, when they arrested a journalist who now runs Peoples Gazette, he was the Police PRO — disastrous and unprofessional. He even brought someone to teargas us that day.”

The activist recalled that he travelled to Lagos after being told he could not participate in a protest. 

"I came to Lagos because he invited me. I had just left to give a speech when I heard that he said I could not come to Lagos. I said, since you said I can't come, and I'm the kind of person who goes where I'm not invited, I came to Lagos to participate in a protest. This man — one of the most loquacious and most unprofessional people — was shouting on TV that nobody has a right to protest in Lagos. How can a police commissioner say that Lagos doesn't have the right to protest?

According to him, the court ruling is a victory for civil rights and judicial independence.

"When he discovered that I actually went to the protest, he became upset. He lost his mind and declared me wanted. We decided we would challenge him for that. Our case was last heard before Justice Kakaki, who graciously granted an order restraining them from any attempt to declare me wanted. We are going to argue the substantive issue because I badly need that N500 million. When I get it, I will use it to buy more eba — which is where I get my strength from," he said outside the court. 

Beyond his legal battle, Sowore used the moment to call on Nigerians to “rise up” against injustice, poverty, and government negligence.

"When you look at Nigeria and see what these people pay attention to and what they prioritise, you understand why I say everybody must rise up in this country once and for all. We don't need Donald Trump to tell us that these people are problematic. Donald Trump is not different from them. Anyway, let us unite and save our country.

"I volunteered myself. All these people you see behind me, and those of you behind the camera, have volunteered. You are ready to take the risk. It can't get worse than this. You are already slaves in your own country — submerged by poverty, unemployment, and all kinds of health issues, from malaria to typhoid. You have been besieged by bad roads, no schools for your children, and unpaid salaries.

"Even the policemen involved in this — I fought for them. Twenty-nine thousand of them got promoted. But the next day they came and broke my hand. A CSP broke my hand. Two weeks later a CSP took me to Kuje. I'm not complaining.

"My fight for justice does not consider whether you are Yoruba, Hausa, or Igbo. It doesn't care whether you are male or female, young or old. I don't even care about your sexual orientation. I am for everybody — whether you like me or not. I believe that in our lifetime this country deserves better," Sowore explained. 

He commended his legal team, especially his lawyer who travelled from Ondo State to file the suit, and commended the judge’s courage for hearing the case late in the day.

"That's why I want to thank our lawyer, who drove all the way from Ondo to file this lawsuit. It has been heard and the judge has done justice. I know the next thing some people will say is that they do not trust the judiciary. Well, trust in our judiciary is not up to the judiciary alone. It is up to us — citizens who show up and demand that the judiciary do justice. That is why I came to court even though I did not need to be here. And yes, if the judiciary cannot give us justice, we must demand justice from the judiciary.

"So, of course, I thank the judge for having the courage — even when it was late in the day and it was his last case. He was tired, but he still took the case. I know what happened."

In a fiery comment on recent security developments, Sowore accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of also attempting to declare him wanted. 

The former presidential candidate said, "In fact, I just read that in Abuja the DSS was trying to declare me wanted while I was also declared wanted in Lagos because they said I called Tinubu a criminal. I keep asking: is Tinubu not a criminal? If he is not, has Donald Trump not proven that he is a criminal by aiding and abetting people who are killing others while claiming they are Christians?  

"Our position is not that there is no genocide — there is genocide — but it is not against Christians alone. There is genocide against everybody in Nigeria — against Muslims and Christians alike.

"There is genocide being carried out systematically by the Nigerian state against its people. Hunger, starvation, and corruption are forms of genocide. Deliberately starving people is genocide. Paying people peanuts instead of salaries that can sustain them is genocide. Destroying people's houses — the homes they poured sweat into building — is genocidal, because when you remove someone's source of livelihood you can drive them to despair or death.

"They want the United Nations definition of genocide, but we are saying this is our own, lived definition of genocide — because genocide in practice never stays neat and narrow," Sowore added.

Speaking after the judge granted the order, Tope Temokun, lead counsel for Sowore, said: “Yes. This is very important. This matter is before the court now. We have the motion on notice before the court. The orders granted by the court specifically read as a notice to the Commissioner of Police of Lagos State. The court granted an interim injunction restraining the respondent — particularly the Commissioner of Police of Lagos State — from harassing, intimidating, threatening with arrest, arresting, or in any manner portraying the applicant as a wanted person, pending the hearing of the motion on notice.”

According to him, "That is the first order. The implication is that the declaration made by the Commissioner of Police of Lagos State on 3 November 2025 is now void, based on this order of the court. We must say this clearly: we must return powers to our courts, just as Mr. Omoyele Sowore has said. People should not ask us whether we trust our courts.

"The police are chasing us everywhere, and we still go to court, with apprehension about whether we can get justice. Where do we go? We have our hope in the courts. It's like marriage: the fact that you are married does not mean you uncritically trust your spouse, but you need to commit. If the spouse disappoints you, fine; if not, you can be an example of a good marriage.

"We have hope in the court, and that hope was justified and validated today. The second order granted by the court is also a notice to the police: an order to halt all operations and actions that flowed from the public declaration by the Commissioner of Police, describing Omoyele Sowore as a wanted person. With these two orders granted by the court today, I can tell you that we still have hope.

"What are you talking about — we have hope. The judge waited until this hour to take the application. He read through everything, wrote in longhand, and delivered a ruling granting these orders. If we come together and insist on what is right, we can rescue the nation. But if we give up and say we don't trust the police, or we don't trust the court, where do we go?

Temokun stated, "When we continue to fight and insist on what is right, the declaration of 3 November 2025 is now void and put in abeyance. At the end of the day, we will proceed to the substantive motion. Under the law, the police do not have the power to wake up and describe somebody as wanted at a distance without invitation or without any criminal investigation. In fact, he made that declaration at the barricade near the Oworonshoki Bridge while police were shooting at protesters. He made that public declaration without proper basis or investigation.

"Where does that power lie? If your power is not derived from the law, it is illegal. That is what we are here to prove, and we will prove it. We will get damages against them so we can teach them lessons. Whatever we recover belongs to Nigerians. People are always on the run — from the state, from the country, from the police. And now the police are on the run from the law."