The mouthpiece of the North, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has called on the federal government under President Bola Tinubu to halt the treason trial and other offences against some minors and adults brought before a federal high court in Abuja over their participation in the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests.
This was even as they called for the immediate release of the suspects as well as advised the federal government to pay compensation for their unlawful detention.
This was contained in a statement issued by the National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Professor Muhammad Tukur Baba, and made available to newsmen in Kaduna on Sunday.
The statement noted that it observed the spectacle of fellow citizens, hauled before a Federal High Court at Abuja, on trial on allegations of treason, and other offences, arising from their participation in the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests.
“The suspects consist mostly of minors. The trial is 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.
“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 views 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 rationalize (“justify” is a very wrong term to apply) the mis-action”.
“The whole drama was a symptom of a justice system gone wild 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 do 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,” the statement partly read.
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