President Bola Tinubu, on Monday, bowed to mounting international and local pressure to release the minors clamped in detention for more than three months.
The minors were said to have participated in the #EndBadGovernance protests which took place across the country in August this year.
About 114 EndBadGovernance protesters arrested by the police, mostly from the north (many of whom are minors), are being prosecuted by the Nigerian state for allegedly carrying foreign flags during the protest.
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The defendants, aged between 12 and 34, face charges including terrorism, treason, and conspiracy. The police claimed they were involved in acts aimed at destabilising the government.
During the arraignment of the first batch of 76 of the protesters, at Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, four of the defendants (largely malnourished), collapsed, sparking a national outrage.
The presiding judge, Obiora Egwatu subsequently admitted each of the defendants to a N10 million bail after they pleaded not guilty to the respective charges preferred against them by Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police.
The prosecution of the protesters alongside the minors attracted wide condemnation locally and internationally, with top opposition leaders – Atiku Abubakar, and Peter Obi, as well as the human rights community, calling for their unconditional release.
Buckled under this pressure, Tinubu, on Monday, ordered their immediate release and also directed that the security agents involved in the arrest and prosecution of the minors be investigated.
Idris Mohammed, minister of information and national orientation, who relayed this to journalists in Abuja, said that President Tinubu was “committed to democracy and the rule of law.”
According to Mohammed, the president also directed the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice to immediately release the minors.
“I recall that I had a short briefing with Mr President early this evening (Monday), and he has directed the immediate release of all the minors that have been arrested by the Nigeria Police, without prejudice to whatever legal processes there are.
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“Secondly, the president has also directed the ministry of humanitarian affairs and poverty reduction to immediately see to the welfare of those minors and also to ensure their smooth reunion with their parents or guardians, wherever they are in the country.
The president also directed that a committee be set up immediately to be headed by the ministry of humanitarian affairs. It is an administrative committee that will look at all issues surrounding the arrest, detention, treatment, and finally, the release of these minors.
The president also directed that all the law enforcement agents involved in the arrest and the legal processes be investigated, and if there are any infractions found to have been committed by any official of the government, be it a law enforcement agency, or whoever that person may be, appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against him or her.
Recall that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in a statement issued by Muyiwa Adejobi, spokesperson of the police, had described the fainting of several minors arraigned in Abuja’s Federal High Court as “deliberate and scripted.”
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