Falana Leads Protest As Lagos Lawyers Demand Probe Of Colleague’s Assault

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, on Thursday joined other legal practitioners in Lagos to protest the police brutality on lawyers and Nigerians.

The protest is coming especially on the heels of the recent detention of a Lagos-based lawyer, Olumide Sonupe, by the police at Gowon Estate Police Station, Lagos, for two days.

Sonupe was reportedly hospitalised after detention by the police on Dec. 30, 2023, over an alleged assault of a police officer during negotiations.

Days after the development, hundreds of lawyers who condemned this incident and other recent incidents of harassment and assault by the Nigerian police gathered at the bar centre of the Nigerian Bar Association (Ikeja branch) from where they marched peacefully to the headquarters of the Lagos State Police Command.

Briefing journalists in Ikeja, Falana said the five branches of the NBA in Lagos met with the state police commissioner, Adegoke Fayoade, whom he said assured the lawyers that a thorough investigation has commenced into the incident.

“Lawyers in Lagos State decided to come together today to protest against police brutality because of the recent maltreatment meted out to one of our colleagues,” he stated.

“We are making a case through him that Nigerian lawyers will no longer allow the brutalisation of lawyers and indeed other citizens. The NBA wants a full investigation of the incident in the station and happily, the commissioner of police announced today that hyper investigation is already ongoing.”

The lawyers were supposed to drop their petition against police brutality with the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade. Still, before they could set out for the protest, the commissioner who got wind of the planned protest showed up at the bar centre to dialogue with the lawyers and address their concerns.

The lawyers protested his presence but following the intervention of Falana, they allowed him to address the gathering after which the letter of protest was submitted to him.

Despite this, the lawyers led by Falana and the chairmen of all five branches of the NBA in Lagos, embarked on the protest, chanting solidarity songs to register their displeasure at the conduct of the police.