Falana To Demand Compensation For Minors Detained During #EndBadGovernance Protest

Human rights activist, Femi Falana has disclosed his intention to demand compensation for minors detained over the #EndBadGovernance protest.

Falana, who is the counsel to the suspected protesters, spoke to newsmen shortly after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed the release of the minors.

Naija News reports that the minors are among the 76 defendants charged with treasonable felony before a Federal High Court in Abuja, over the protests which lasted from August 1 to 10.

At the hearing on Friday, they were granted ₦10 million bail bond each and remanded pending the fulfilment of the terms.

Reacting, Falana said, “We will wait until the matter is withdrawn tomorrow, we will then ask the defendants what they want to be done before we can make the application.

“We hope they will withdraw the matter tomorrow (Tuesday).”

Falana had filed a notice of preliminary objection asking the judge to decline jurisdiction in the case and for an order mandating the complainant to pay the children’s school fees till at least senior secondary school or university level.

He said the application is in line with “Section 18 (3) (a) (b) (c) of the 1999 Constitution, Section 15 of the Child’s Rights Act, Section 2 of the Universal Basic Education Act, and Article 17 of the African Charter.”

Falana argued that the Federal High Court “lacks the jurisdiction to try them by Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution,” stressing that, under “Section 204 of the Child’s Rights Act, they can only be subjected to the child justice system.”