President Bola Tinubu has ordered the release of all minors being prosecuted for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protest.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed the presidential directive while briefing State House correspondents, on Monday.
Idris said the President directed the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to immediately commence the process of securing release of the minors.
“The President has directed that all minors be released on the and also reunited with their families anywhere they are in the country. A committee has been set up to look at the issues surrounding their arrest, detention and release. All the law enforcement agents related to the case will be investigated and anyone found wanting will be brought to book,” he said.
A federal high court in Abuja had on Friday granted bail of N10 million each to 72 defendants charged with participating in the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests, to the chagrin of human rights activists and Netizens.
Presiding Judge Obiora Egwuatu also ruled that each defendant must secure two sureties equally. One of the sureties must be a civil servant at grade level 15 or higher, with a verifiable address within the court’s jurisdiction, while the other must be a parent of the defendant.
The court had originally set the arraignment date for 76 defendants, most of whom are minors. During the proceedings, many of the children appeared ill and malnourished as they were called to take their pleas.
Some minors were forced to stand outside the designated area, while four of them slumped and had to be urgently escorted from the courtroom, prompting the judge to temporarily suspend proceedings until order was restored.
But in a swift response, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) called for the case file of the 75 protesters who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest.
The minister had in a personally signed statement issued Friday night, announced that he would intervene even as he directed that the case file be submitted to him on Saturday, which is a non-working day in public service.
The statement read: “It has just come to my notice that the police have arraigned those arrested in connection with the endbad governance violent protest in court for various offences including treason.
“There are some issues my office will need to look into regarding the matter to enable me take an informed decision.
“I am aware that the court has remanded the defendants in detention centres and adjourned the case to January”.
“It is not within my power to vary the order of the court remanding the defendants in detention centres and adjourning the case to January. I have, however, directed the Nigeria Police to transfer the casefile to my office and hand over same to the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF) tomorrow, Saturday 2nd November, 2024.
“I have further directed the DPPF to immediately put machinery in motion for consideration of the court to bring the adjournment date forward (an earlier date)” the statement further read.
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