Arraignment of minors: Trial judge, IGP, AGF must face sanction — Stakeholders
In this report, Vanguard Law & Human Rights captures the perspectives of senior lawyers, academics, and rights activists on the decision by President Bola Tinubu’s government not only to slam Nigerians who protested against his government in August this year with treason charges but also to detain underage protesters for 90 days in the prison with hardened criminals before finally arraigning them before a Federal High Court in Abuja. Major stakeholders including a one-time Abia State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Awa Kalu, SAN; a respected member of the inner Bar, Chief Mike Ahamba, SAN; Prof. Emmanuel Aiyede and a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, are among the many stakeholders that have carpeted President Bola Tinubu’s administration for charging Nigerians who protested against his policies with treason. They are of the consensus that the serious charge preferred against the protesters amounted to killing a fly with a sledgehammer. The senior citizens who wondered how carrying out one’s fundamental human rights of expression could be regarded as treason in the 21st Century, also rapped Tinubu’s administration for detaining underage protesters in prison with hardened criminals for over three months before bringing them to court.
They opinned that it is unthinkable that a judge who passed through the Nigerian Law School would agree to prosecute underage protesters in his court without querying the prosecutor for the misdeed.
Although upon the directive of President Tinubu, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, took over the case and dropped the charge against the accused persons, the senior lawyers are pushing for the sanction for not only the judge that purportedly allowed himself to be used to prosecute the underage protesters. They also wanted both the Inspector-General of Police and the Chief law officer of the federation to be queried as well.The stakeholders who took their time to trace the journey of the protesters to prison said it was amazing that President Tinubu who himself led protests in the past with the reputation of funding mass demonstrations against bad governance would turn around to orchestrate the arrest and detention of innocent Nigerians under the pretext of attempting to overthrow his government when indeed his objective was to gag Nigerians from expressing themselves.
How it started
Following the rising cost of living, insecurity and hunger in the country, fuelled by the implementation of a set of economic reforms by President Tinubu’s administration from May 29, 2023, Nigerian youths across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, mobilized themselves to organize a 10-day mass demonstration nationwide.
The goal of the protest was to compel the Federal Government to reverse some of its anti-people policies on fuel subsidy removal, hike in electricity tariffs, custom duties, among others.
Although there were demonstrations on July 29, 2024 in the North Central region of Nigeria with some protesters blocking the Abuja-Kaduna highway and a march in Niger State, the main protest however started on August 1, 2024.
From the first day of the protest, men of the Nigerian Army and the Police killed some protesters in their bid to disperse them across the country, and injured many others while several protestors including minors were arrested all through the duration of the demonstration.In the Northern part of the country, some protesters including minors who waved Russian flags during the protest were also arrested. Although the protest lasted 10 days, the first three days were more effective than the other days.More than three months after the agents of the state arrested the protesters, unsettling video clips and pictures appeared online on November 1, 2024, showing scores of minors with few other detained protesters inside a court room in Abuja.Four of the underage protesters collapsed in court from apparent malnutrition and inhuman conditions they were subjected to while they were awaiting trial on charges as extreme as treason.The incident in the court generated reactions from various quarters within and outside the country. Vanguard
