‘A show of shame’ — ACF condemns stringent bail conditions for arraigned minors

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has condemned the stringent bail conditions given to minors arraigned for allegedly participating in the #EndBadGovernance protest.

Several suspects, including minors, were on Friday arraigned for ‘their roles’ in the #EndBadGovernance protest.

Those arrested were said to be from Abuja, Kaduna, Gombe, Jos, Katsina, and Kano.

The charges against them include terrorism, arson, and treasonable felony.

Before they could take a plea, at least four of them collapsed.

The court later granted the defendants, who looked ill and malnourished, N10 million bail each.

However, in a statement on Sunday, the ACF condemned the trial of minors on allegations of treason and other offenses, and described the trial as “a show of shame”.

Muhammad-Baba, spokesperson of the ACF, who issued the statement, said the forum viewed the citizens as victims of “Nigeria’s flawed criminal justice system and excessive 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 the mis-action, adding to the absurdity of the sham trial,” the statement reads.

“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.”

Muhammad-Baba said senior government officials’ promises to care for detainees rang hollow, noting that innocent citizens faced detention while protest instigators remained free.

“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,” he said.

“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 ACF said the incident portrays President Bola Tinubu’s administration in a “very bad light” locally and internationally.

The forum added that the incident is viewed as a “naked demonstration of untamed power” that aims to “intimidate and subdue” citizens exercising their rights to protest and express grievances.

The ACF spokesperson asked for thorough investigations into the detention circumstances.

He added that detainees deserve financial compensation for “unnecessary and unjustified detention” and urgent medical and psychological care.