#EndBadGovernance Protests: ACF Tells Federal Gov’t To Free Detainees, End Trial

The apex northern sociocultural group, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called on the Federal Government to release those arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja for alleged plot to overthrow the government and treason following their participation in the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests.

The ACF said it has observed the spectacle of fellow citizens, hauled before a Federal High Court at Abuja, on trial of allegations of treason, and other offences, arising from their participation in the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests.

ACF in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Professor T.A Muhammad-Baba noted that the suspects consist mostly of minors, describing the trial as a “show of shame and it is as crass, gross and disturbing as can be. It is also a demonstration of needless official high-handedness at its worst”.

The group said equally unsettling was the “dramatic departure from the Court of the presiding judge on sighting some of the under-aged detainees collapsing from hunger and suffering. “

ACF added that it viewed these citizens as victims of the Nigerian criminal justice administration system and mindless bureaucracy. “The very unhelping and insensitive words, to the press, of the prosecuting attorney and those of the Inspector-General of the Police were just as distressing, amounting to an attempt to rationalise (“justify” is a very wrong term to apply) the mis-action, adding to the absurdity of the sham trial.

“A telling symptom of a justice system gone wild is that the suspects were offered bail for the sum of N10 million each plus some other stringent conditions.

“From their looks, most of the detainees cannot raise as little as N10,000 to post bail. Subsequent statements by senior government officials to the effect that the welfare of the detainees will henceforth be taken care of does not inspire confidence.

“Similarly, the hint that the detainees may be tried in juvenile courts also begs the question: these hapless citizens should not be detained or tried at all, especially as the instigators of the protests have been freely roaming the streets.

“ACF is disappointed in the apparent resort to abandoning court by the trial judge as well as the unreasonable bail conditions he granted the detainees. It was not just the impossible monetary condition, but to ask the detainees to provide sureties who must be senior government officials is beyond belief, these being citizens from the lower rungs of society who may never have been to Abuja! Shorn of all niceties or political correctness, the trial simply assaults common sense and it is, in this regard as scandalous and reckless as can be.

“The saga also portrays the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) Administration in very bad light, domestically and internationally and obvious in reportage of the matter in major international news channels.”

The ACF further decried what is called naked demonstration of untamed power that the trial represents, “which is clearly conceived to intimidate and subdue citizens who may contemplate exercising their inalienable rights to protest and or express grievances through constitutionally guaranteed means”.

According to the statement, ACF had that, ab initio, warned Northern youths ahead of the protests to be wary of being manipulated into a collective action of dubious utility.

“Still, absolutely nothing in the so-called trial for treason justifies FGN’s treatment of the detained citizens. Such treatment of “ harmless, impoverished, malnourished or undernourished minors on northern Nigerian origin” to quote a columnist in this week’s Saturday Tribune newspaper, is a callous abuse of power by a government that should, counterintuitively, be preoccupied with raising their standards of living.”

ACF joined other Nigerians, national and international human rights groups in strongly condemning the trial and “naked, strong-arm tactic, reminiscent of strategies employed by authoritarian and intolerant but weak regimes aimed at muscling citizens.”

In particular, the ACF demanded the federal government to immediately halt the trial of the detained protesters, release the suspects and return them to their families unharmed.

It further called for investigating on the circumstances that led to their detention for over three months, way beyond the constitutional limits of 24 hours.

The federal government is also asked to financially compensate the detainees for their alleged unnecessary and unjustified detention for over three (3) months while also calling for medical examination, treatment and provision of professional psychological evaluation and counseling to the detainees.

The ACF similarly charged the government to re-evaluate its strategies for processing protests strictly in line with constitutional due processes, principles of good governance and international best practices.

“The ACF decries this naked demonstration of untamed power that the trial represents, which is clearly conceived to intimidate and subdue citizens who may contemplate exercising their inalienable rights to protest and or express grievances through constitutionally guaranteed means.