Thirty-two malnourished children were amongst the seventy-six persons arraigned on charges of treasonable felony before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday. This marks the latest violation of the dignity of poor peoples in Nigeria by the Bola Tinubu-led APC government, in the wake of the recent #EndBadGovernance protests.
These minors were detained for over 90 days since August before they were eventually brought to the FCT from several northern states. The wrongful detention, starvation, torture and subsequent charging of these minors is not just a violation of their rights but a damning indictment of the justice system’s failure to protect poor people and the most vulnerable in society.
What transpired in the courtroom was only a snippet of the brutality that the minors have had to endure since their detention.
A member of SWL who was detained alongside some of them who were in Abuja witnessed the nightmarish conditions under which they were detained, from the overcrowding of the cells to the unconscionable brutality that was inflicted on them. Officers, including the OC surveillance, took turns unleashing violence upon these young individuals with horsewhips, showing a complete disregard for human dignity and extant laws against torture. Such brutality has no place in a civilized society.
Of the seven minors that were detained in Abuja, at least four of them were arrested in direct connection with the protests. They told stories of how they were violently pursued into ditches as tear gas filled the air. This is not law enforcement; this is state-sanctioned terror against poor young people.
In the process of trying to get the minors released before the latest courtroom fiasco played out, TIB lawyers confronted the police about their unlawful detention of minors with photographic evidence. But in full awareness of the depravity of their actions, they went so far as to deny that they were holding minors. This deliberate obstruction of justice and attempt to cover up their actions is a testament to the systemic corruption we are fighting against.
We also note that the police attempted to extort people of goodwill who wanted to secure the release of the minors when they were just arrested by asking them to pay ₦50,000 as bail. Not only is it depraved to put a price on sanctity of children’s innocence, but the very practice of monetizing liberty is a direct assault on principles of justice. It creates a two-tiered system where freedom is available only to those who can afford it, while poor and working people who struggle to feed themselves are incarcerated almost indefinitely.
This is not justice; this is a blatant weaponisation of poverty by the state to suppress dissent and maintain control over a populace that is keen to see an end to bad governance.
SWL will not stand idly by as children and youth, who represent our collective future, are subjected to such flagrant abuses of power. We demand the immediate release of all these detained minors, a thorough, independent investigation into their arrests and detentions and prosecution of all those who were complicit in their abuse and torture. We also call on Tinubu to bring this catastrophic descent into authoritarian rule to a close. Far from deterring us, the shameful violations of the rights of minors which we are witnessing strengthens our resolve to upend all oppressive institutions in Nigeria.
Kunle “Wizeman” Ajayi Amara Nwosu
National Chairperson National Secretary
