Minors freed as court strikes out suit against 119 #EndBadGovernance protesters

A federal high court in Abuja has struck out the suit against 119 protesters charged over the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest.

Obiora Egwuatu, the presiding judge, struck out the case following an application by M.D Abubakar, counsel to the attorney-general of the federation (AGF).

Abubakar had applied to take over and discontinue the suit.

At the session on Tuesday, Abubakar prayed the court to allow the AGF take over the case.

“We have an application to take over the matter and to discontinue same in accordance with section 174 of the constitution,” Abubakar said.

Responding, Femi Falana, who represented the 1st to 50th defendants, did not oppose the application.

“We have no objection to the application because it is in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act as well as several provisions of the Child Rights Act,” Falana said.

“The AGF has the power to take over the case at any stage and exercise his discretion to discontinue the suit.”

Hamza Kyari, who represented the remaining defendants, did not object to the application.

Consequently, the judge struck out the suit.

The development comes just hours after President Bola Tinubu directed the attorney-general and law enforcement to release all minors detained over the protest.

At the time of reporting, all the minors have been freed.

BACKGROUND

In August, Nigerians embarked on a 10-day protest against economic hardship and spiralling inflation. The rallies turned violent in some parts of the country.

Some protesters were seen waving Russian flags in certain northern states.

On November 1, the federal government arraigned 76 persons who allegedly took part in the protest, and charged them with treason.

Another 43 defendants were arraigned in a separate charge on similar offences.

Many of those arraigned were minors who looked malnourished and ill. Four of the minors collapsed in the courtroom on the day.

The arraignment had sparked an uproar on social media amid strident calls for their release.

The attorney-general had asked the police to hand over the case files in the wake of the outrage.