Demolition: Canadian lecturer urges Lagos to drop charges against Soweto, Dele Frank

A lecturer astatine McGill University, Canada, Richard Janda, has called connected the Lagos State Government and the Nigerian Police to discontinue ineligible proceedings against 2 activists charged for participating successful a peaceful protestation against forced evictions successful waterfront communities.

Janda, an Associate Professor astatine the university’s Faculty of Law, made the entreaty successful a missive addressed to the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Babajide Martins, seeking the contiguous withdrawal of charges against Hassan Taiwo, popularly known arsenic Soweto, and Dele Frank.

The 2 activists are presently facing prosecution implicit their engagement successful a protestation held connected January 28 astatine the Lagos State House of Assembly analyzable successful Alausa, Ikeja, wherever demonstrators opposed alleged demolitions and displacement of residents successful waterfront areas.

In the missive made disposable connected Tuesday, Janda described the charges arsenic unfounded, arguing that prosecuting the activists amounted to an effort to suppress peaceful look and weaken antiauthoritarian freedoms.

“I constitute to petition the contiguous withdrawal of the charges filed against Hassan Taiwo Soweto, spokesperson of the #EndBadGovernance Movement Lagos, and Dele Frank (Arole Fela), a musician, implicit their p...