The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, has requested for the case file of the #EndBadGovernance protesters arraigned by the Nigerian police on Friday, including underage children, some of whom colapsed in the courtroom.
The Bureau Newspaper earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu had ordered the Minister of Justice, Fagbemi, to review the treasonable felony charges brought against the underage and malnourished children before the Federal High Court in Abuja which has attracted national and global outrage.
The Bureau Newspaper on Friday evening learnt that Tinubu ordered the AGF to review the cases and make recommendations accordingly after the Nigerian presidency came under scrutiny for maltreating underage children accused of bogus charges for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protest.
In a statement he personally signed on Friday evening, the AGF said, “It has just come to my notice that the police have arraigned those arrested in connection with the Endbad governance violent protest in court for various offences including treason.
“There are some issues my office will need to look into regarding the matter to enable me take an informed decision. I am aware that the court has remanded the defendants in detention centres and adjourned the case to January.
“It is not within my power to vary the order of the court remanding the defendants in detention centres and adjourning the case to January. I have, however, directed the Nigeria Police to transfer the casefile to my office and hand over same to the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) tomorrow, Saturday 2nd November, 2024.
“I have further directed the DPPF to immediately put machinery in motion for consideration of the court to bring the adjournment date forward (an earlier date).”
The Bureau Newspaper earlier reported that the court presided over by Justice Obiora Egwuatu, granted stringent bail conditions to over 70 persons, including minors, for their alleged roles in the #EndBadGovernance protest held in August 2024.
The children have been taken back to Kuje Prison following difficulties in meeting their bail conditions.
The court granted each of the defendants N10 million bail among other stringent terms.
However, one of the counsels for the protesters, Deji Adeyanju, lamented that the stringent bail conditions imposed by the court on the protesters meant they had to be taken back to prison custody.
Human rights and advocacy groups across the country have accused President Tinubu of running a cruel, heinous and punitive government.
The groups said this in separate statements issued on Friday while condemning the continued detention and prosecution of the #EndBadGovernance protesters.
The groups demanded unconditional release of all detained protesters, especially minors; immediate suspension of all exorbitant bail conditions granted to the protesters; transparent investigation into the maltreatment of underage detainees, including starvation, physical abuse, and psychological trauma at IRT and other detention centres, and an end to the criminalisation of protests and dissent voices in the country.