Pastor Sam Adeyemi, Kanu Nwankor, Don Jazzy, Davido, 46 Others Dragged To Court Over #EndSARS Protests

An activist named Kenechukwu Okeke has filed criminal proceedings before a magistrate court in Abuja against 50 prominent persons for “promoting” the #EndSARS protests.

Okeke, in a suit filed at the Magistrate Court, Abuja, listed personalities including the senior pastor of Daystar Church Sam Adeyemi, music producer Don Jazzy, popular Nigerian footballer, Kanu Nwankwo, Tuface Idibia, Wizkid, Davido, Falz, Burna Boy, Peter and Paul Okoye, Banky W, Joe Abah and others as defendants.

Other defendants listed in the suit include Aisha Yesufu, Kiki Mordi, Deji Adeyanju, Tiwa Savage, Feyikemi Abudu, and Debo Adebayo.

Thousands of Nigerians under the #EndSARS campaign, in October, took to the streets to protest police brutality.

Several public figures and celebrities lent their voices to the protests which gained national and international attention.

Okeke said the defendants through their Twitter accounts “did conspire to commit misdemeanour, to wit, promoting or acting in such a manner to assist in the promotion of unlawful assembly under the guise or composition of #EndSARS.”

In a tweet accompanying the suit, Okeke wrote: “Having initiated criminal proceedings against the #EndSARS riots promoters at exactly 1052hrs WAT, 09/11/2020, we shall ensure that same is diligently prosecuted in the interest of defence, public safety and public order. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is country of laws.”

Okeke claimed that the defendants “committed an offence punishable under Section 97 (2) of the Penal Code Act, C53 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004.”

The claimant said the protest was aimed to “cause persons in the Federal Capital Territory to fear on reasonable grounds that such assembly needlessly and without reasonable occasion may provoke other persons tumultuously to disturb peace.”

Okeke said his properties were “egregiously destroyed by some riotous and tumultuous persons instigated by the defendants.”

The claimant stated that he has comoutet-based evidences and facts, pointing to the culpability of the defendants in the #EndSARS protest he described as an ‘unlawful assembly’.

Okeke’s suit comes weeks after a former presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Adamu Garba filed a suit at the federal high court, seeking to ban the use of Twitter in Nigeria.

Adamu claimed that #EndSARS agitators used Twitter to galvanize themselves in an undemocratic manner to oust President Muhammadu Buhari from office.

The suits, Nigerians believe, are being filed by government proxies to further stifle their rights to freedom of expression after the two-week nationwide protest.

Last week, an association of governors from Nigeria’s northern region held an emergency meeting where they announced that censorship of social media was one of the most critical subjects of their deliberation.

The governors said social media was being used to threaten national security and urged the Federal Government to censor social media in the country, saying the ‘oneness of Nigeria is a non-negotiable’.

There are reports that some of the #EndSARS promoters and participants are being hunted by law enforcement agencies.

The federal government has also been accused of freezing the bank accounts of #EndSARS promoters.