HT Soweto, Democratic Socialist Movement (CWI Nigeria)

On 24 April 2026, it was the third time that I and Dele Frank (Arole Fela) appeared in court to stand trial on criminal charges.

We are being tried on a five-count charge bordering on conduct likely to cause a breach of public peace among others. If found guilty, we both are looking at a few years behind bars. But we remain undaunted.

This is because the only reason why we are being subjected to this sham trial is our role in a peaceful protest on 28 January which successfully stopped the Lagos state government from forcibly evicting poor people from their ancestral lands in Makoko, in order to make way for the rich and powerful elite.

The sham trial, which started on 29 January following our arrest, is the clearest indication yet of how much the anti-eviction protest successfully pushed back the Lagos state government and the bevy of land grabbers in their agenda to wipe the people of Makoko from the face of the earth.

On 28 January, over 5,000 residents of Makoko, Sogunro, Iwaya, Oko Agbon, Otumara, Oworonshoki, Ajegunle and Owode Onirin marched to the Lagos state House of Assembly. The peaceful march was organised by the Coalition Against Demolition, Landgrabbing and Forced Evictions in Lagos state which members of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) and the #EndBadGovernance Movement Lagos state helped set up in January, as news of a renewed push to demolish and evict residents of Makoko filtered in.

Makoko is a waterfront community in Lagos state that has been in existence for more than a hundred years. The traditional occupation of the Makoko people, numbering over 300,000, is fishing. Indeed, Makoko is widely celebrated as the ‘Venice of Africa’ due to its iconic wooden homes, schools, and churches perched on stilts over the Lagos Lagoon.

However, instead of supporting this highly resourceful community with public infrastructures like pipe-borne water and sanitation, the priority of the Lagos state government has always been to try to evict them in order to redevelop the community into a luxurious estate for the rich. The people of Makoko have historically resisted this agenda politically and legally.

  • Read more at socialistworld.net
  • Update: At the Magistrate Court Yaba on 24 April, our application for the release of properties (DJ equipment, computer, generator, First Aid, etc) seized by the police during 28 January protest was heard. A counter affidavit was filed and argued by the police. The case was adjourned till 8 May for the ruling on the application and hearing on the substantive matter.