The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja will hear a motion on Tuesday by the office of the federation’s attorney and minister of justice seeking the transfer of the case file of the 114 #EndBadGovernance protesters, including minors, from the police to his office.
A source in the Ministry of Justice confirmed this to LEADERSHIP last night.
Friday night, the AGF, Prince Lateef Fagnemi, SAN, directed the police to transfer the suspect’s case file to his office.
LEADERSHIP exclusively reported two days ago that the police obeyed the directive almost immediately.
A highly-placed source told our correspondent, “The case is coming up tomorrow, and every arrangement has been made for the motion to be heard.”
Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja granted N10m bail each to 114 protesters, including minors.
They were accused of burning police stations, the High Court Complex, and the National Communications Commission (NCC) Complex during the #EndBadGovernance protests.
The total sum of the bail granted to the accused persons was N1, 140,000,000 and two sureties in like sum.
Justice Egwatu granted the defendants bail after submission from the lawyers representing the defendants and the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
The source said, “As directed by the AGF, the case files of the #EndBadGovernance protesters who were arraigned in court by the police last week have been transferred to the AGF. Barring any last-minute changes, a new date for the case hearing during the new week has been fixed, and all parties involved have been notified.”
There was public outcry over the arraignment of minors among suspects brought before the court last Friday.
Condemnations trailed the police’s action, which made the AGF intervene quickly.
The AGF immediately called for the case file of the suspect arrested during the August 1 #Endbadgocernmenance protest.
There were allegations that some of those brought before the court for trial were minors.
In a short statement late Friday night, the AGF said, “It has just come to my notice that the police have prosecuted those arrested in connection with the #EndBadGovernance violent protest in court for various offences, including treason.
“My office will need to look into some issues regarding the matter to enable me to make 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 case file to my office and hand it over 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 the court’s consideration to bring the adjournment date forward (an earlier date).”
During their arraignment, Nura Ibrahim (24 years old) and 75 others (ages ranging from 14 to 30) were accused of acting in concert with Andrew Martin Wynne to destabilise Nigeria.
They were alleged to have attacked and injured police officers. They burned police stations, the High Court Complex, the NCC Complex, the Kaduna Investment and Promotions Agency office, and the NURTW office, similar to accusations levelled against ten protesters in another court.
