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Nigerians have expressed outrage over the arraignment of 76 suspects, including 32 minors, before Justice Obiora Egwuatu at the Abuja division of the Federal High Court for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests in August.
Civil society groups and rights activists slammed the police and the government over the matter.
The defendants, who have been in detention for three months, were arrested in the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja); as well as Kaduna, Gombe, Jos, Katsina, and Kano states.
They were arraigned by the Inspector General of Police on 10 counts bordering on treason, intent to destabilise Nigeria and inciting to mutiny by calling on the military to take over the government from President Bola Tinubu, among others.
The nationwide protest against economic hardship and poor governance happened from August 1 to 10, with demonstrators calling for reduced governance costs, the reinstatement of petrol subsidy, food security, and greater fiscal discipline.
The protest turned violent in some states, leading to incidents of looting and vandalism.
Among the 76 defendants arraigned on Friday, 32 of them were minors between the ages of 14 and 17.
The minors, who looked unkempt and malnourished, were seen scrambling for water and biscuits in video clips that went viral on social media on Friday.
As proceedings commenced, the visibly unwell children were called to the dock to enter their pleas.
But in a sudden turn of events, four of the children suddenly collapsed and were rushed out of the courtroom, forcing the presiding judge to suspend the session until order was restored.
The minors wriggled in pain and made a screeching sound on the floor as both lawyers and prison officials hurriedly carried them up, holding their hands and legs. They were then taken out of the courtroom, as they couldn’t stand on their feet.
Watching with a bewildered look of pity and irritation, Justice Egwuatu abruptly rose and went into his chambers.
Upon his return, the prosecution counsel, Audu Garba, told the court that the matter was for arraignment.
He said, “My Lord the matter is fixed for arraignment. Some of the defendants are outside due to lack of space in the courtroom to accommodate all of them.”
The judge, however, insisted that space should be created for all of them, as he wanted all defendants inside the courtroom.
The prosecution proceeded to ask the court to strike out the names of the sick defendants and discharge them pending when they get well to be brought back to the court to answer to their charges.
The defense counsel, Marshall Abubakar, however, asked the court to discharge and acquit them.
He said, “The application is on the fact that the defendants are sick and malnourished. These boys are hungry and have not been fed for three days.”
The prosecution, however, objected to the defence counsel’s submission, insisting that the defendants, who had been detained since August when they were arrested, were well catered for in the police cell where they had been kept.
He, however, asked the court to grant the defendants bail.
The court, on the submission of the prosecution, discharged the four sick defendants – Umar Yunusa, Usman Suraju, Musa Isiyaku and Abdul Ganiu – pending when they get well.
The court, however, refused to acquit them.
Justice Egwuatu declared that until they meet their bail terms, defendants who are 18 years and above should be remanded in the Kuje Custodial Centre while the minors (18 years and below) be remanded in the Borstal Centre in Gwagwalada.
Nigerians condemned the undue detention and arraignment of the defendants, describing them as a violation of human rights and an indication of the government’s approach to civil dissent.
The charges brought against them read in part, “That between July 31, 2024, and August 4, 2024, at the Abuja FCT and Kano Metropolis, within the jurisdiction of this court, while acting in concert and with intent to destabilise Nigeria, conspired together to commit felony to wit: treason.”
Count two, “That within the jurisdiction of this court, while acting in concert and with intent to destabilise Nigeria conspired together to commit felony to wit: inciting to mutiny, thereby committing an offence.
Count three, “That between July 31, 2024 and August 10, 2024, in Abuja FCT, Kaduna, Kano and Gombe, within the jurisdiction of this court, while acting in concert with Andrew Martin Wynne (aka Andrew Povich) a British citizen, with intent to destabilise Nigeria, levies war against the state in order to intimidate or overawe the president, by attacking and injuring police officers and burning police stations, High Court Complex, NCC Complex, Kano Printing Press, Government House Kano, Kaduna Investment and Promotions Agency office, NURTW office and several other buildings and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 410 of the Penal Code (Northern States) Federal Provisions Act CAP P3 LFN 2004”.
The FG also accused them of having the plan to destabilise Nigeria by calling on the military to take over government from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and by chanting, ‘Tinubu most go,’ ‘It is military we want’, while rioting and disturbing public peace.
Justice Egwuatu, however, granted the protesters bail in the total sum of N760m with two sureties in like sum.
The judge further held that one of the sureties must be a level 15 civil servant and the other a parent to the defendants.
He also ordered that the sureties make available to the court a means of identification, letter of last promotion, letter of appointment, means of Identification and a verified address.
Justice Egwuatu said, “The defendants are granted bail in the sum of N10m each with two sureties in like sum.
NBA, SANs decry rights abuse
Reacting, the Nigerian Bar Association said subjecting minors to such treatment not only violates domestic and international legal protections, but also paints Nigeria in a negative light on the global stage.
The National President of the NBA, Afam Osigwe, who stated this in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, said the inhumane treatment of the minors constituted a grave violation of their fundamental human rights.
Osigwe said, “This does not make us look good at all. It makes the credence of our correctional facilities and our pre-trial detention condition questionable and deplorable and portrays a negative image of us in the international community.
“Every effort must be made, either to release them (suspects) immediately on account of their long period of incarceration and be reunited with their families or if the Federal Government insists on trying them, they should be returned to the places where they were arrested, so that they will be close to their families and their families will be able to arrange for legal services for them and also be close to them and be able to follow the trial.
“It does not speak good of our criminal justice system that such children looking malnourished are being charged, showing that we have treated them poorly before their trial in court.”
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Isiaka Olagunju, condemned the arraignment.
He said the law permits children to be arraigned in a family court rather than a Federal High Court, adding that justice administration was clearly stated in the Child Rights Act.
According to him, keeping the children in detention for more than 48 hours and their eventual arraignment at a Federal High Court was a gross violation of the provision of the Act and the entire constitution.
He said, “This is entirely a breach of the Child Rights Act, which is a part of the laws guiding the federation, but if they are minors, that means they are below the age of 18. The Child Rights Act talks about justice administration and that the child must be arraigned in accordance with the provision of that law.
“I think there is a charge administration in that law, which specifies specific offences and procedures to arraign a child. To arraign a child at a Federal High Court is a serious breach of the constitution and the Child Rights Act. It is highly inappropriate. By the provision of the constitution, you can only be detained for a maximum of 48 hours.
“They cannot keep a minor in custody with adults. They should be kept in juvenile detention, not in a police station. There should be a specific detention for children and not with adults. So, what they are doing is very wrong. Section 204 of the Child Rights Act, Laws of Federation states, ‘No child shall be subjected to the criminal justice process or criminal sanctions, but a child alleged to have committed an act which would constitute a criminal offence if he were an adult shall be subjected only to the child justice system and processes set out in this Act.’”
Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria and former Dean, Faculty of Law at the Nile Universityof Nigeria, Abuja, Professor Shehu Zuru, argued that the charges against the protesters were wrong.
He said, “Those who were raising Russian flag, does that even amount to treason? What is treason by the way? This is an organised insurrection against constituted authority. It is an insurrection that has challenged the sovereignty of state. But you can’t compare that to civil disobedience. No!
“But where you have an organised mutiny or insurrection and it has clearly challenged the sovereignty of a state like the Boko Haram accompanied by hoisting of flags, then, that will amount to treason. Like those involved in the Boko Haram movement, of course, that is treasonable. But you can’t just pack people who are involved in an organised civil protest and say they have been involved in treasonable activity, not at all.”
Another lawyer, Festus Ogun, said it was “shameful” that Nigerian authorities charged “poor, homeless, malnourished and out-of-school children” to court for participating in #EndBadGovernance protest.
He argued that the persecution of children by the Federal Government was unacceptable and constituted a gross violation of human rights.
Human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, described the arrest and detention of the minors as a violation of their fundamental human rights.
“The Tinubu regime is making a mockery of our criminal justice system by parading minors in this manner. It reflects an unserious approach and tarnishes the community’s reputation,” he stated.
Effiong called for immediate action from the government, urging authorities to discontinue the charges against the minors and focus instead on rehabilitating them.
Atiku, Obi, senator slam Tinubu’s govt
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said the detention and prosecution of the minors had exposed the inhuman nature of the Tinubu administration.
Atiku, in a statement issued by his media team in Abuja, lamented that the pitiable sight of the children in the courtroom was reminiscent of the infamous Nazi concentration camp.
The Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election also noted that it was an “utter violation” of Section 11 of the Child’s Rights Act, which guarantees that no child should be subjected to physical, mental, or emotional injury as well as torture and inhumane punishment.
He said, “If they are just being arraigned three months later, one can only imagine the sort of dehumanising conditions they had been subjected to and have been detained all this while.
“I find it reprehensible that a man who claims to have fought for Nigeria’s democracy and had led protests now demonises those who decide to demonstrate against the effects of his harsh and draconian policies.
“Children who are the most affected by these policies have every right to protest peacefully as guaranteed by the constitution and the Child Rights Act. A nation can be assessed by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens. It is saddening that even underage children are not spared from the wickedness of T Pain.”
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, also expressed dismay over the treatment of the minors.
“I would like to call on relevant authorities, especially the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Federation, the Police, and the DSS, as well as the National Human Rights Commission, to thoroughly investigate such inhuman treatment of minors to avert such incidents in the future,” Obi said.
The lawmaker representing Niger East (APC), Senator Sani Musa, called on the IG to investigate the inhumane detention and prosecution of the protesters.
Musa, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Finance, urged the NJC to probe the decision of the judge who presided over their case.
CDHR, Amnesty Intl, SERAP, NEF condemn detention
Also reacting, the President of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, Debo Adeniran, said it was unexplainable that a supposed progressive government could maltreat children in the way it had done.
Adeniran stated that it was cruel to arrest and detain the minors for days without trial, adding that the ill-treatment meted out to the children was condemnable.
He said, “The #EndBadGovernance, #FearlessOctober and other protests will be a child’s play if the government continues to stoke embers of violence inside the citizenry. A lot of people are angry with the government, and what the government should do is to persuade them to come up with schemes that will douse the tension.”
Amnesty International also condemned the continuous detention of the minors who were arrested in August for allegedly participating in the #EndBadGovernance protest in August.
Amnesty, in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), described the trial of the minors for treason as a “sham” and demanded the unconditional release of the defendants.
“The attempts to put the minors through a sham trial over alleged treason shows the government’s utter disregard for the rule of law. The authorities must release them immediately and unconditionally”, the statement read.
Also speaking, the National Coordinator of the Take it Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, said it was “dishonourable” for underage children to face such fate.
“The Federal Government is a disgrace, arraigning underage children for capital punishment for protest after starving them for months. See how malnourished and unkempt they looked. This is an egregious crime against humanity,” Sanyaolu said.
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre appealed to Tinubu to end the prosecution of the minors by ordering their release of the children.
The organisation, in a statement by its Executive Director, Auwal Rafsanjani, also urged international bodies to join in condemning the incident and pressuring the Nigerian government for an unconditional release.
Reacting via its X handle, the Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Project condemned the detention of the minors, calling on President Tinubu to immediately release them or face legal action.
“The Tinubu administration must unconditionally release the 76 #EndBadGovernance protesters and drop all charges of ‘treasonable felony’ against them, or face legal action. No one should ever be punished for the peaceful exercise of their human rights”, the post read.
A spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum, Abdulazeez Sulaiman, described the children as frail and fearful, representing a profound societal failure.
Sulaiman emphasised that accusing children of treason, a serious charge typically reserved for adults, was troubling and reflected “a disturbing distortion of legal and moral principles.”
He argued that children, inherently innocent and unable to grasp political complexities, should never be subjected to such grave accusations.
“Their detention, particularly in a politically charged atmosphere, raises serious concerns about potential abuse and neglect, violating their fundamental human rights,” he said.
He urged the international community to take action, calling for solidarity and a commitment to protect vulnerable individuals.
(Punch)
