The discharge of all juveniles who were charged in court for taking part in the #EndBadGovernance protests has been met with a range of responses.
According to reports, President Bola Tinubu instructed the Attorney-General of the Federation to guarantee the prompt release of the children who were held by the Nigeria Police in relation to the protests that took place in August of last year.
Days after some suspects, including children, were accused of treason and encouraging a military coup after being spotted carrying Russian flags during the #EndBadGovernance demonstrations against economic hardship, the instruction was issued.
Tinubu issued the directive after reviewing the cases’ circumstances, according to Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, who made the announcement during an emergency briefing at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja. Idris emphasized the significance of striking a balance between humanitarian concerns and legal procedures.
“I had a short briefing with Mr President this evening, and he has directed the immediate release of all the minors that have been arrested by the Nigerian police without prejudice to whatever legal processes.
“They are all minors. The President has directed that all of them be released immediately,” he announced.
Recalls that the #EndBadGovernance movement, which was sparked by public discontent with governance problems and economic challenges, saw massive rallies in Nigeria in August.
As the protests intensified, a number of people were arrested, including thirty children between the ages of 14 and 17, who were accused of grave crimes such treason and encouraging a military coup.
The arraignment of the suspects, including 32 minors, before Justice Obiora Egwuatu at the Federal High Court’s Abuja division for taking part in the #EndBadGovernance protests was reported to have infuriated many Nigerians, including civil society organizations. Civil society organizations and rights activists criticized the government and police for the incident.
Amnesty International vehemently denounced the Nigerian authorities’ use of the strict bail requirements as an excuse for the children’s arbitrary incarceration, arguing that the children shouldn’t have been held in the first place.
“President Bola Tinubu’s administration should urgently be addressing widespread hunger and the rapidly declining standard of living, instead of prioritizing punishing protesters, as millions of people are on the verge of starvation, widespread malnutrition, and deep poverty,” the group stated on X.
The children’s trial was also characterized by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, or SERAP, as a vicious attack on demonstrators.
“It is an attempt by Nigerian authorities to instill fear, evade scrutiny, deny citizens their fundamental rights and entrench a culture of impunity in the country. Nigeria deserves better than this.
“The Tinubu administration must promptly investigate the apparent ill-treatment of #EndBadGovernance protesters in prison and prosecute those responsible. The administration must immediately and unconditionally release those detained and drop all charges against them,” it demanded.
The Northern governors, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, the presidential candidates of People Democratic Party, PDP, Abubakar Atiku, and Labour Party, Peter Obi, among others, called for immediate release of the minors.
However, President Tinubu, aside ordering immediate release of the minors, also directed the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Nentawe Yilwatda, to see to the welfare of the minors and ensure their smooth reunion with their parents or guardians, wherever they were in the country.
Reacting to the release of the minors, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana urged the Federal Government to reintegrate and educate all minors arrested during the #EndBadGovernance protests, warning of legal action if the government fails to comply.
Falana underlined the necessity of rehabilitation and education for the young people who ought to have been in school during the protests, saying that the government’s decision to drop charges against 119 people—including 29 minors—is insufficient.
He emphasized that the child rights law, which requires free and compulsory education for all Nigerian children, lays out the government’s obligation.
“I was in court in Abuja just this morning before this program started, where 119 Nigerians, including twenty-nine minors, were brought to court,” the senior attorney stated. Unlike last week, the government was so embarrassed that it was unable to bring them to court.
“The government came to court this morning to withdraw the frivolous charges. So, the young people have been freed.
“But as I told the court, it’s not enough to terminate this trial. These young people, who should have been in school during the protests, must be rehabilitated by the government. We will ensure they are rehabilitated and sent to school.
“If the government fails, we will sue the government. It is the government’s responsibility, according to the child rights law, adopted and enacted by all states of the Federation. Section 15 of that law provides that every child in Nigeria shall receive free and compulsory education from primary to secondary school.”
Marshall Abubakar, the defense attorney, responded to Tinubu’s directive by pleading with the government to provide scholarships to the youngsters upon their release.
According to Abubakar, “It is a welcome development. But unfortunately, the country had to suffer very fragile fragments of the society that they owe a duty to protect and safeguard their interest.
“This particular situation capitalises on the pitiable state of the country today. It is a welcome development, and we hope the government will live by its promises and take appropriate action to ensure that these children are fully and properly educated from the primary to university levels.
“The government owes them the responsibility of not educating them under section 18 of the Constitution and section 2 of the Universal Basic Education Act. So we call on the government to give these kids scholarships to make up for the trauma that they have suffered at the hands of the Nigerian government.”
Okechukwu Nwaguma, the Executive Director of the Rule of Law Advocacy and Accountability Center, denounced the youngsters’ original arrests and extended imprisonment.
“It is good that the President has finally realised that there was really no need in the first place to have arrested minors.
“Arresting them is an abomination, but keeping them in custody for nearly three months in harsh conditions, alongside adults, is an even greater abomination,” Nwaguma said.
According to him, this kind of treatment is against Nigeria’s Child Rights Act, which stipulates that the best interests of children must always come first.
Nwaguma demanded that the government pledge to rehabilitate and reintegrate the minors into the educational system, as well as to publicly apologize to the children, their families, and the country.
“Those children need rehabilitation and reintegration into the educational system and under the law, those children deserve compensation.
“The President should go ahead to offer a public apology to the country, to those children, their parents, their communities and to the country, and then rehabilitate them. The FG should commit that this kind of thing will not happen again because it is a national shame and international scandal,” he advised.
Similar opinions were voiced by Debo Adeniran, Executive Director of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, who stated that “the minors’ release is a belated decision that ought to have happened when they were arrested.”
Adeniran clarified that rather than being housed in facilities with adult detainees, the youngsters should have been placed in juvenile centers called remand houses, even if they had committed crimes.
Additionally, he criticized the government’s security and intelligence networks, claiming that they neglected to alert the president to the moral and legal ramifications of holding juveniles in custody.
He continued by urging the heads of the security and intelligence agencies to be held accountable for their failure to stop the mishandling of the minors’ cases, saying, “The Ministry of Justice should have advised the president appropriately on why minors should not be subjected to such a harrowing experience under detention.”
Speaking to reporters, Barrister Maxwell Okpara, a lawyer and human rights advocate from Abuja, praised President Bola Tinubu’s order and urged him to make sure that the authorities and others responsible for the children’ arrests be apprehended and prosecuted.
He bemoaned what he called the demeaning circumstances of the children detained by the police, emphasizing that it was detrimental to Nigeria’s reputation.
“The President’s directive is a welcome development. The arrest and subsequent arraignment of the minors was a national embarrassment, especially mixing minors with adult suspects in custody is unheard of.
“Saying a minor committed a crime of trying to overthrow a government with another country’s national flag and are kept in custody for 90 days in a dehumanizing situation does not speak well of Nigeria in the international community.
“It is one thing to issue an order, and another to make sure that the order is being complied with,” he added, adding that the president should make sure that his instructions are carried out until the very end.
Ugo Enwereji, a public affairs analyst, criticized the president’s decree for taking a reactive rather than a proactive approach to issues like these, calling it the “medicine after death” approach.
“The children have been in detention for a long time, so the President’s order is a little late,” he remarked. This is more of a reactive approach, and right now we need a proactive administration.
“Coupled with the fact that what they protested for was for a good cause, arresting them and keeping them that long is not good at all. The hardship in this country is in the front of everybody; we are all facing it. So, you can’t beat a child and tell him not to cry.
“The government knew beforehand the protest was coming but did nothing to avert it. Those that charged the minors to court should be arrested and prosecuted.”
“The right to protest stems from the right to freedom of expression, which is protected under section 39 of the 1999 constitution,” said Sylvester Agih, a lawyer based in Lagos, who added that it enabled citizens to express their displeasure with government policies that were against their interests.
“The government ought to either alleviate these hardships or reconsider such policies, rather than accusing protesters of treason, as seen in the case involving the minors.
“It was, however, a significant relief when the Attorney General of the Federation, exercising his powers under section 174 of the Constitution, took over the case from the police and promptly dropped the charges against the minors by entering a nolle prosequi.
“I must also commend President Tinubu for his intervention in the matter by instructing the AGF to step in to resolve the matter amicably,” he added.
