By Dyepkazah Shibayan, ABUJA
Nigeria
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu on Monday ordered the immediate release of 29 children facing the death penalty after being arraigned for allegedly participating in protests against the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Under growing pressure from
activists, Tinubu also directed an investigation of the law enforcement agents
involved in the arrest and prosecution of the minors, Nigeria’s Information
Minister Mohammed Idris told reporters in the capital, Abuja. They are not
expected to be released until Tuesday through a court order.
The children, detained since
August, were among more than 70 people arraigned on Friday on charges of
treason, destruction of property and mutiny after the August protests that
shook the country and culminated in security operatives killing
some demonstrators and arresting hundreds.
Aged 14 to 17, four of the
minors collapsed due to exhaustion when they were brought to the court last
week. Most others looked malnourished and lost as they pressed against one
other in the dock, the rest sitting on the floor.
There had been no news of
their detention until their arraignment, which sparked outrage and renewed
concerns about deteriorating
human rights in Africa’s most populous country.
A local court imposed
stringent conditions and granted the children a bail of 10 million naira
($5,900) each, which none of them was able to meet.President Bola Tinubu
It is still not clear if the
children participated in the
protests staged by Nigerians as they faced worsening hardship caused
by the government’s economic policies that were aimed at reducing costs and
stabilizing the ailing economy.
They were detained unlawfully
and put through “horrifying experiences,” according to Amnesty International’s
Nigeria office, one of several rights groups that demanded the children’s
release.
The children’s arrest
“highlights significant flaws in our criminal justice system, particularly the
child justice system, indicating systemic issues that fail to protect minors’
rights,” said Funke Adeoye, founder of Hope Behind Bars Africa, a nonprofit
that has been fighting for their release.
No comments:
Post a Comment