ONE hundred and fourteen#EndBadGovernance protesters, mostly minors, who were arraigned by the Bola Tinubu’s administration at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, had N1.14 billion imposed on them by the court as part of bail conditions, after spending 73 days in detention.
The protesters were arraigned before Justice Obiorah Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, after the Tinubu’s government arraigned them for treason and mutiny for participating in the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests.
Four of the minors collapsed in court, sparking an outrage among Nigerians at home and abroad. Nigerians protested in August 2024 in a demonstration tagged, #EndBadGovernance. It was targeted at protesting the cost-of-living crisis facing Africa’s most populous nation.
Nigerian govt punishing children for protesting
Mr Tinubu’s government is punishing children for protesting hunger and starvation, according to human rights organisation, Amnesty International.
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The group said the government of President Bola Tinubu must uphold the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed human rights of everyone in the country — including the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, It demanded that all protesters currently on trial or detained be released.
“In Katsina, at least 12 children under 16-years-old were detained. The children ended up in detention for just being on the streets during the #EndBadGovernance protests. Children with their whole lives ahead of them are now at the risk of being tried on trumped up charges,” it noted.
Odinkalu breates judiciary
A professor of Law and former Chairman National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Mr Chidi Odinkalu, berated the judiciary for facilitating the pre-trial detention of the oppressed children rounded up in the streets of Abuja.
“Someone went to the streets of Abuja, rounded up oppressed children, herded them into pre-trial detention with the active facilitation of the judiciary in Abuja; All for the edification of temporal power. #Nigeria’s judicial system is committed to discarding pretences of law,” he noted.
“These are the same judiciary & security agencies that cannot find @OfficialGYBKogi or bring him to court or to accoint; that manage to miss the bandits & their ransom loot all the time; that certify election rigging as entirely lawful. This makes “disgraceful” sound endearing!”
Ezekwesili knocks Tinubu
Former Education Minister, Ms Obiageli Ezekwesili, said what happened on Friday was sordid evidence of the Tinubu’s government punishing its citizens for daring to tell it the truth of bad governance.
“No one can ever solve a Problem they deny and refuse to own. No one. Agitation to #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria is shared by overwhelming majority of your citizens. For real. How many of your Citizens can you take to court like done to these minors? How many of your Citizens can you detain and deprive of their freedoms like done to these minors? Hear me. No ruler has ever won against their people forever. Check history. Note that I wrote ruler and not leader. The repressive class of politicians in Nigeria are not leaders. You all have serially failed the “test of leadership” because you act as wicked rulers who feel entitled to the “publicly-funded luxurious life” while repressing and pauperizing the citizens.
“Second,@officialABAT , the evident corrupted capture of our Judiciary by the @NigeriaGov is playing out daily on Candid Camera before the eyes of the world. The trial of these minors is one of many examples these days. Stop the wicked prosecution of these minors immediately and send the children back to their parents and guardians. Next, ensure that they are compensated for the physical, mental, emotional and overall psychological damage you have done to them by abusing the powers of the Nigerian State and grossly violating their constitutional rights. When those children came out to protest asking you to #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, they were telling you the ‘Truth and nothing but the Truth'”
