NATIONAL PATRIOTS RESPONSE: SOWORE JUDGMENT—RIGHTS ARE NOT A LICENCE FOR DISORDER, AND POLICING IS NOT OPPRESSION.
The statement credited to counsel for Omoyele Sowore is not a neutral explanation of a court decision; it is a politically loaded press pitch that stretches the judgment beyond its core holding and unfairly demonises the Lagos State Police Command.
True, the Federal High Court reportedly held that the “wanted” declaration against Mr. Sowore was unlawful and awarded damages.
That is the court’s position, and it must be respected as part of Nigeria’s constitutional order.
But it is misleading to frame this as “victory for every Nigerian” in the sweeping manner counsel suggests—because fundamental rights do not erase the duty of citizens to obey lawful directives, maintain public order, and avoid conduct capable of endangering lives or crippling a megacity.
The counsel’s rhetoric tries to paint policing as oppression.
That is intellectually dishonest.
Lagos is not a quiet town; it is Nigeria’s economic nerve-centre.
The police carry a constitutional and statutory responsibility to prevent threats to public safety, protect critical infrastructure, and ensure citizens can move and work without fear.
The same Lagos CP being dragged in this statement has also been credited in public briefings with improved security outcomes and reduction in major crimes over a defined period—an achievement attributed to intelligence-led policing and stronger community cooperation.
What counsel conveniently omits is that law enforcement agencies are not required to wait until a situation explodes before acting.
Preventive policing—based on credible intelligence and risk assessment—is a legitimate public safety function. What the judgment appears to challenge is the procedure and legal threshold for publicly branding a citizen “wanted,” not the responsibility of the police to investigate alleged threats to public order.
National Patriots rejects the dangerous attempt to convert this ruling into a free pass for civic indiscipline.
Protest is a right, but it is not immunity. Criticism is allowed, but it is not a licence to provoke disorder or create unsafe conditions.
Any activist, politician, or public figure who insists they are “untouchable” by accountability mechanisms is promoting anarchy, not democracy.
We also caution against personalised attacks on the Commissioner of Police.
The office of CP Lagos is a high-risk command position, not a popularity contest. Disagreements over tactics should be debated with facts, not character assassination.
Moving forward, the responsible path is clear: the police must tighten compliance with due process in “wanted” declarations and enforcement actions, and activists must stop testing the boundaries of public order as a political sport. Nigeria needs liberty under law—not liberty against law.
Dr. G. Fraser. MFR
The National Patriots.
