A Lagos High Court has extended its order restricting #EndBadGovernance protesters to designated areas within the state. The decision, issued by Justice Sherifat Sonaike on Tuesday, mandates that demonstrations be confined to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota and the Peace Park in Ketu. This extension follows the state’s compliance with pre-action protocols for preemptive remedies ordered last week by vacation judge, Justice Emmanuel Ogundare.

The extension order will remain in effect until August 29, when the case is scheduled for another hearing.

The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, represented by the Director for Civil Litigations, Mr. Hameed Oyenuga, filed the application that led to this extension. Oyenuga informed the court that the initial court order had been served to all respondents, in line with pre-action protocols.

The respondents in the suit include Adamma Ukpabi and Tosin Harsogba (for Active Citizens Group), Comrade Juwon Sanyaolu and Hassan Soweto (for Take It Back Movement), unknown persons, and the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State.

Oyenuga argued that although the respondents had not yet replied to the application, it was necessary to extend the restriction order to maintain the state’s relative peace despite ongoing protests nationwide.

Justice Sonaike, satisfied with the Attorney-General’s compliance with Justice Ogundare’s previous orders, ruled that the restriction of protests to the designated parks would continue until full compliance with pre-action protocols is achieved.

On July 30, Justice Ogundare had initially granted an interim injunction to restrict protests in Lagos from August 1-10, except in the approved locations from 8 am to 6 pm. This order was based on an ex-parte application filed by Pedro, who argued the need to protect the state’s critical infrastructure and prevent the loss of lives and property, similar to what occurred during the EndSARS protests in 2020.

Pedro also highlighted that the police in Lagos lack sufficient manpower to provide security for protests across all local government councils and public highways. He emphasized the importance of preventing the protests from being hijacked by hoodlums intent on causing destruction under the guise of public demonstrations against alleged bad governance.