After global outrage, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu yesterday directed the immediate release of all minors who were arrested over their alleged participation in the August #EndBadGovernance protests.
This is what the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told journalists at the Presidential Villa in Abuja after a meeting with Tinubu: "The president has ordered the immediate release of all the minors who have been arrested by the Nigeria Police without prejudice to whatever legal processes they are undergoing. He has directed that they be released immediately.
"Secondly, the president has also directed the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction to immediately attend to the welfare of these minors, and to ensure their smooth reunion with their parents or guardians wherever they are in the country.
"Thirdly, the president has directed that an administrative committee will be set up immediately, to be headed by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, to examine all issues surrounding the arrest, detention, treatment and finally, the release of these young minors.
"Fourthly, the president has also directed that all law enforcement agents involved in the arrest and the legal processes will be investigated, and if any infractions are found to have been committed by any official of government, whether from a law enforcement agency or another appropriate authority, disciplinary action will be taken against him or her," the minister said.
We acknowledge the directives by the president, but to say that we are grossly pained and disappointed with the trend of events since Friday when the minors were paraded before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, is an understatement.
So many things are wrong with the issue, and the utterances of key government functionaries prosecuting the case, and the lawyers hired to defend this travesty of justice, is a source of concern.
Beyond other issues and before the intervention of the president, people of good conscience were still at a loss in respect to the bail conditions slammed on the suspects by the presiding judge. It is practically impossible for the parents of these young people to cough out N10,000,000 in any form to meet the bail conditions. These are people who could not even afford to pay the cost of transportation to Abuja to witness the case in court.
Also, millions of Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the harrowing scene of teenagers collapsing in court as they were arraigned by the police on charges of treason and calling for the overthrow of the government.
The suspects were arrested variously in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Kaduna, Jos, Kano, Katsina and Gombe states and have been in custody since then.
Is it that all those handling this matter are ignorant of the Nigerian Constitution?
Part II of the constitution outlines the rights and responsibilities of a child, ensuring children receive necessary care and protection for their well-being. Specifically, this section guarantees the right to survival and development; right to name and freedom of association and peaceful assembly. Additionally, the constitution emphasises the state's obligation to safeguard children against exploitation and moral and material neglect.
Evidently, we have seen this provision turned upside down in this case, and Mr President must ensure that some high-profile personalities pay for their indiscretions.
Is Nigeria an island unto itself? The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of Juvenile Justice, also known as the Beijing Rules, are guidelines for how children should be treated in the criminal justice system
The rules cover issues such as privacy, due process, and special training for police. They also recommend that juvenile justice be an integral part of a country's national development process.
It is evidently clear that those handling the affairs of these gullible children have turned deaf ears to these provisions.
The monumental damage this has done to Nigeria's image is better imagined.
However, while explaining the circumstances under which the suspects were arraigned, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, said in a statement through Police Force spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, that: "These serious allegations encompass offences such as destruction of public property and threats to national security."
The IGP upset many Nigerians further, when in response to questions from the media on the state of the minors, especially those that collapsed, reportedly dismissed the situation at the court, describing it as "stage-managed."
Justifying the police action, the IGP said that "under Nigerian law, individuals who have reached the age of criminal responsibility are accountable for their actions regardless of their age."
If the IGP thought he could score brownie points by arraigning them on the charges brought before the court, it promptly fell flat on its face as Nigerians showed their collective outrage at the entire spectacle. The appearance of the suspects in tattered clothes, malnourished and clearly denied of basic dignity was horrifying.
The outrage expressed across the country was not on the charges preferred on the suspects as weighty as they are. Nigerians were much more concerned about the appearance of the suspects and the treatment meted out to them by the police, under whose custody they have been in the past three months.
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It also dented our commitment as a democratic nation on the adherence to justice, and human rights before the watching world.
We, therefore, share the disappointment of most Nigerians that the IGP, who should be the exemplar of the rules of engagement guiding the procedures in such situations, should be the one contradicting it by his actions.
Even though the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) had ordered the IGP to transfer the case to his office, it is evident President Tinubu does not want those saddled with the matter to continue washing their dirty lining in public, hence the directive for the minors to be released yesterday.
All said, we align with the opinion of J. B. Daudu (SAN), a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) that "...there was nothing treasonable on the conduct of these children or young men as discernible from the charge...This is very inhumane and a breach of their fundamental rights. It is my view that even if they committed the offences they are being accused of (certainly not treason), the maximum sentences that could have been handed down should have been reasonable fines and in serious cases, imprisonment not exceeding three months..."
