"13 years old does not mean you can't be charged": Police defend charging minors to court

3 weeks ago 48

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has defended its decision to charge teenagers to court for participating in the nationwide Endbadgovernance protest
The Force PRO, Muyiwa Ogunjobi, said anybody who is more than 7 years old can be charged to court
Ogunjobi accused the teenagers of hijacking the nationwide protest, being violent, and flying the Russian flag

Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over 5 years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international events

FCT, Abuja - The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) said anybody who is more than 7 years old can be charged to court.

The Force PRO, Muyiwa Ogunjobi, said the minors charged to court for participating in the Endbadgovernance protest are more than 7 years old.

Ogunjobi said the youngest among the 72 protesters is 13 years old.

The police spokesperson stated this during an interview with Channels Television on Friday, November 1.

Speaking during the interview shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) @channelstv, he said:

“Those who are not criminally liable under the law, are the young ones below the age of seven. ''Once you are more than 7 years old, you can be charged to court. The only thing is that you have to follow certain procedures to do that.“But none of them is less than 7. I think the youngest should be 13. The fact that you are 13 years old does not mean you can't be charged to court ."Even in the Children and Young Persons Acts, they can still charge you to court because if you’re 13 years old, you can go to court.“So, we have charged them to court for this on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria where the police have taken the bull by the horns because these are those who actually leverage on the Endbadgovernance protest. They hijacked the protest and they were so violent, we have people flying the Russian flag with many foreigners which of course you know is a punishable offence already. They are criminally liable. We did not charge any underage in our own contest here to court.”