EndBadGovernance Protests: Tinubu directs immediate release of minors facing prosecution
By Emma Ogbuehi
Following national outrage and international consternation, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed that all the minors arrested and facing prosecution in court over their alleged involvement in the #EndBadGovernance protest should immediately be released without prejudice to the law.
The Tinubu government has faced serious backlash not only domestically but also internationally.
Many human rights activists contend that a government that deprives its children of education, healthcare, shelter, sanitation, and hygiene; that holds them for 93 days without sufficient food, clothing, or medical care; and that imposes an unachievable bail condition of N10 million along with two sureties of the same amount — conditions that the minors, most of them from very wretched families, cannot fulfil until January 25, 2025 when the case was adjourned — should be held accountable rather than the children.
In apparent reaction to the harsh criticisms and ultimatum from various groups, President Tinubu also directed the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to see to the welfare of the minors, who were brought to court dehumanised and malnourished.
Four of them, looking gaunt, fainted in court.
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The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed Tinubu’s directive this evening while briefing State House correspondents, in Abuja.
The Minister said that Tinubu said all the law enforcement agents involved in the arrest, detention and prosecution of the minors be investigated and anyone found culpable, would face appropriate disciplinary action.
The Tinubu government faced tremendous pressure to drop the charges against dozens of minors amid an uproar over detention conditions since they were arrested over their alleged participation in protests against the high cost of living.
A total of 76 people, including 30 children, were arraigned on Friday and charged with 10 felony counts, including treason, destruction of property, public disturbance and mutiny.
The minors ranged in age from 14 to 17 years old.
Scenes of the minors fainting while in court in Abuja sparked an uproar from politicians and civil society.
They have in detention for three months following their arrests in August.
“The footage reveals minors, some so weak that they could barely stand, others fainting from sheer exhaustion and lack of nourishment,” Peter Obi, Labour Party candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
Amnesty International also condemned the minors’ “horrifying detentions for participating in protests against hunger and corruption”, calling it “one of the deadliest attempts to suppress freedom of assembly” so far.