•Femi Falana, SAN
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, has raised concerns over the alleged use of expired teargas canisters by Police operatives during last week’s protest against illegal demolitions and forced evictions in the Makoko waterfront area of Lagos.
He described the police action as unconstitutional, dangerous and a violation of citizens’ right to peaceful assembly, reports Vanguard.
Falana spoke at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, during a visit to protesters injured in the incident.
The protest, organised by activists Comrade Hassan Taiwo, popularly known as Soweto, and Mr. Dele Frank, was aimed at drawing the Lagos State Government’s attention to alleged unlawful demolitions and forced evictions affecting waterfront communities.
The demonstration was initially peaceful but reportedly turned violent after police operatives fired teargas at close range.
Several protesters sustained injuries, an action that has since drawn condemnation from human rights groups and civil society organisations.
At LASUTH, Falana was briefed on the condition of Mrs. Kafayat Muftaudeen, one of the injured protesters, by a Burns and Plastic Nurse, Mr. Adedeji Hassan.
Hassan said Mrs. Muftaudeen, who sustained a severe leg injury, was being discharged but would continue treatment through regular wound dressing and weekly hospital visits before undergoing surgery.
“She is fit to go home and will be coming to the hospital weekly for dressing,” Hassan said, adding that she would later undergo skin grafting once the wound had healed.
He explained that the discharge was not influenced by financial considerations, noting that recovery could be better managed at home under medical supervision.
Hassan also disclosed that another protester injured during the protest, whose injuries were captured in footage aired by CNN, had been discharged.
Reacting to the injuries he observed, Falana described them as unusual and alarming.
He said that in over 40 years of participating in protests across the country, he had never seen teargas canisters cause such severe injuries.
“The injury I have seen is not normal,” Falana said, suggesting that expired teargas canisters might have been deployed during the operation.
The senior lawyer stressed that the 1999 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, adding that Nigerians do not require police permits to protest.
He recalled the Court of Appeal decision in All Nigeria Peoples Party v. Inspector-General of Police, which affirmed the right of citizens to protest peacefully and described police permit requirements as a relic of colonial rule.
According to Falana, the Police Establishment Act only requires protest organisers to notify the police, who are then duty-bound to provide security.
He said the organisers complied with the law, noting that police officers escorted the protesters peacefully from Ikeja Under Bridge to the Alausa Secretariat.
He said the situation changed when no government official came out to receive a letter addressed to the Lagos State Governor, adding that the police later teargassed the protesters over songs they considered offensive.
Falana maintained that singing abusive or vulgar songs does not constitute a criminal offence under Nigerian law, stressing that public officers must tolerate criticism in a democratic society.
He urged the authorities to learn from the incident and respect citizens’ fundamental rights, warning against the use of force to suppress peaceful protests.
