By JOHN LESLIE

Nigerian socialist activists Abbey Trotsky (Abiodun Bamigboye), Hassan Taiwo Soweto, and Dele Frank (Arole Fela), face charges brought by the Nigerian state. Their alleged “crimes” are organizing solidarity with workers struggling against exploitation on the job and with communities fighting against unjust evictions. This prosecution is a clear attempt to penalize those who fight back against injustice and places the state in the role of enforcing the worst working conditions and poverty. Two of the activists are members of the Democratic Socialist Movement (affiliated to the Committee for a Workers’ International, CWI).

Abbey Trotsky has been locked in a legal battle since 2018, when he was arrested and charged in connection with organizing done in solidarity with casual workers at Sumal Foods Limited in Ibadan. On Oct. 2, 2018, the workers organized a protest against inadequate wages, long working hours, and insecure employment conditions, lacking any legal or institutional protection. Such precarious working conditions are all too common in the semi-colonial world and increasingly common in the imperialist countries. An account published by The Anti-Imperialist, published by the Nigerian section of International Socialist Alternative (Revolutionary), states that “a prosecution witness admitted that Abbey did not mastermind the protest, assault anyone, or destroy property—yet after years of proceedings his prosecution continues.”

Hassan Taiwo Soweto and Dele Frank were both arrested and charged for participating in protests against the eviction of residents of poor communities in Lagos. The state plans to demolish poor communities under the guise of enforcing environmental and safety regulations. They are making way for real estate development. In the Makoko and waterfront settlements, large-scale demolition operations began in late December 2025, continuing into early 2026 across historical waterfront and stilt communities like Makoko, Oko Agbon, and Sogunro. More than 4000 homes have been destroyed, displacing as many as 40,000 residents. Families were offered no resettlement plan and are forced to sleep outdoors, under bridges and in the street. Among the charges levied against Hassan Taiwo Soweto and Dele Frank are violence against police and “singing abusive songs” about police and the Lagos state government.

These prosecutions expose the nature of the police and the state under capitalism. The state and cops serve the interests of capital. Ironically, they accuse workers and oppressed people who fight back against exploitation and dislocation as being violent when the real violence comes from the armed agents of the state. This is true in Nigeria as well as in the U.S., where ICE goons abuse both activists and the undocumented.

From The Anti-Imperialist: “We call on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to mobilise their collective strength, and on student organisations, socialist groups, community associations, and all working-class organisations to build a united campaign in defence of these comrades. Pack the courts: the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, on 25 November 2026, when Hassan’s fundamental rights suit resumes, and the Yaba Magistrate’s Court on 20 January 2027, when the criminal trial continues!”

We say that an injury to one is an injury to all! Workers everywhere from the U.S. to Brazil to Nigeria and beyond are all members of the same social class. Workers everywhere should stand in solidarity with these workers. We call for the dropping of all charges against Abbey Trotsky, Hassan Taiwo Soweto, and Dele Frank. We call for the right to organize and strike without intimidation and police repression. The Nigerian state must pay reparations to the people displaced in these unjust and violent demolitions.

Drop all charges!

Stop the repression against socialist militants!

Defend the right to organize!

(Photo) Hassan Taiwo Soweto speaks to news media.

The post Drop the charges against Nigerian socialists! first appeared on Workers’ Voice/La Voz de los Trabajadores.

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