SERAP, Amnesty International demand release of detained #EndBadGovernance protesters

Civil society organisations, including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Amnesty International, and the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, have condemned the continued detention of 76 #EndBadGovernance protesters, who were arraigned at the Federal High Court in Abuja today.

PUNCH Online reports that the Nigeria Police arrested over a thousand protesters nationwide in August, following protests held between the 1st and the 10th of August 2024, demanding an end to the hardships and hunger caused by the policies of the Tinubu administration.

Among the 76 protesters arraigned were some minors, who appeared visibly malnourished after spending months in detention. One of the minors collapsed in court before being provided with biscuits and water.
Reacting via its X handle, #SerapNigeria, the group condemned the detention of the minors, calling on President Bola Tinubu to immediately release the protesters and drop all charges of treasonable felony against them, or face legal action.

“The Tinubu administration must unconditionally release the 76 #EndBadGovernance protesters and drop all charges of ‘treasonable felony’ against them, or face legal action. No one should ever be punished for the peaceful exercise of their human rights,” the post read.

Similarly, human rights group Amnesty International stated that the attempt to charge the minors with treason demonstrated “the government’s utter disregard for the rule of law,” while also calling for their immediate and unconditional release.

“Amnesty International condemns President Bola Tinubu’s government for the continued detention of minors who participated in the August #EndBadGovernance protests. The attempts to subject these minors to a sham trial over alleged ‘treason’ demonstrate the government’s utter disregard for the rule of law. Authorities must release them immediately and unconditionally,” they stated.

The group also highlighted cases of unlawful arrests involving 12 minors in Katsina during the protests, as well as 43 others facing charges of treason at the Federal High Court in Abuja. They warned that the Nigerian authorities were escalating their efforts to deprive people of their right to peaceful protest through unlawful detentions and sham trials.

It stated, “In Katsina, at least 12 children under 16 years old were detained merely for being on the streets during the #EndBadGovernance protests. These children, with their entire lives ahead of them, are now at risk of being tried on fabricated charges.

“The unlawful detention of these minors, subjecting them to traumatic experiences for exercising their right to peaceful protest, is unacceptable. The government must release all of them immediately and unconditionally.”

On his part, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, said the situation depicted Nigeria as a nation that has no respect for the fundamental rights of children.

“This show of shame has also exposed Nigeria as a nation that goes to the United Nations to declare that it has abolished torture, but the minors who were brought to court have created the opposite impression about Nigeria’s commitment to abolish torture in all its forms. Today is definitely a very sad day for Nigeria.

“The United Nations subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, which reportedly visited Nigeria in September, will definitely need to revisit Nigeria and spend adequate time verifying the massive and callous application of torture in the various state-administered detention centres across the country, and then take strong measures to compel the Nigerian government to comprehensively abolish torture,” he added.

Onwubiko urged President Tinubu to immediately release the minors and order the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to enrol them in schools or vocational training institutions, supporting them to live normal lives.

“We are saying let bygones be bygones, and the President should immediately release these children and order the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to enrol them in schools or vocational training institutions to be trained in various self-sustaining opportunities and skills, and supported to live normal lives and contribute meaningfully to the development of Nigeria,” the statement read