After being granted reprieve by President Bola Tinubu on Monday, several minors, aged between 14 and 17, who were arrested during August’s #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests against hardship in the country, have shared their harrowing experiences while in custody.
On Friday, 76 suspects, including 32 minors – who were arrested during the protest – were arraigned by the Inspector-General of Police on 10 counts bordering on treason, intent to destabilise Nigeria and inciting to mutiny by calling on the military to take over the government from President Tinubu, among others.
Four of the minors, who looked visibly malnourished, collapsed during court proceedings before Justice Obiora Egwuatu at the Abuja division of the Federal High Court, reports The PUNCH.
It sparked outcry across the country, with civil society groups and rights activists blaming the police and the government over their treatment of the minors from Kano and Kaduna states.
Following the uproar, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, during an emergency briefing on Monday, told State House correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja that President Tinubu had directed the immediate release of all the minors.
Consequently, the Abuja High Court in Abuja struck out the charges brought against the protesters by the police.
Idris said the president also “directed that all the law enforcement agents involved in the arrest and the legal processes will be investigated, and if there are any infractions found to have been committed by any official of government, be him a law enforcement agency, or whoever that person may be appropriate, disciplinary action will be taken against him or her.”
On Tuesday, Vice President Kashim Shettima, before handing over the minors to the Governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf, and his Kaduna counterpart, Uba Sani, argued that President Tinubu’s decision, made on humanitarian grounds despite evidence of wrongdoing, was an opportunity for personal reform.Minors narrate ordeal
Those from from Kano have been kept at the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital, where they are being checked and treated by a team of medical personnel. They are expected to remain in the hospital for five days, before they would be reunited with their families.
Some of them, who spoke to our correspondent at the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital where they were taken on their return to Kano on Tuesday night, said they were denied food by the government officials for several days.We saw hell; we suffered a lot,” one of the minors, Umar Ali, 15, said.
“We sometimes stayed for three days without food. And even when we were given food, it was always not enough.”
Ali denied involvement in the protest saying he was arrested on his way to the market at Kwana Hudu in Ungoggo Local Government Area of the state, where he usually does menial jobs to sustain himself.
He added that they were kept in the dark while under custody, which he said affected some of them when they went for trial.
“We hardly saw sunlight in the place where we were kept, hence the reason why some of us could not see very well when we were brought to
the court,” he said.
Another minor, Ibrahim Aliyu Musa, who was transferred from Kano to Abuja a day after his arrest, said he and others were kept in the same place with hardened criminals.
“I was among those that were kept in the same place with hardened criminals and we sometimes spent a number of days without food.
“The food was nothing to write home about, they were inadequate and tasteless. They served us beans in the morning, rice at lunch time and Gabza for dinner. Gabza is normally prepared for inmates due to their large number. So, we had to eat Gabza so as to keep body and soul moving,” Musa added.
Also narrating his ordeal, a 13-year-old boy, who said he was arrested at Gadon Kaya in Gwale Local Government Area, said he was accused of flying the Russian flag, which he denied doing.
“I was arrested on the August 15 and moved to Abuja the following day. We were kept at Abattoir SARS in Abuja. We were kept with hardened criminals for the number of days we were there,” he said.
Protesters given N100,000
The 39 detained protesters from Kaduna State yesterday reunited with their families.
The children were given N100,000 and A18s model Itel android phones each by the Kaduna State Government.