More than 1,400 young Nigerians who took part in the 10-day #Endbadgovernance demonstrations are being held in police detention centres around the nation.
“A large number of the demonstrators in Abuja are (being detained) in the Kaduna Police commands, Bombai in Kano, and the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, among other units in the nation.”
Mr. Deji Adeyanju, a lawyer representing the #Endbadgovernance demonstrators, disclosed this information to the media.
He added that they only one meal a day.
As of the now, most demonstrators eat once a day off on what we have heard. This deal with the Police is merely local in nature.
He added that the demonstrators’ arraignment before an Abuja Federal High Court, which was rescheduled from Monday to yesterday, has been refused by the Police.
Adeyanju stated: “We told the police to provide the charge to us on Monday, and they promised to, but they didn’t.”
“We requested that they provide the charge to us today, Tuesday, but they declined. Can demonstrating become a crime?
He responded, “We do not have a specific number,” when asked how many demonstrators were being held in police custody. However, a total of 1,400 demonstrators were detained after being apprehended across the country.
We know that at least fifty people were detained in Abuja. It is believed that at least 30 people still being held, even though we were able to obtain the release of 27 individuals.
“A large number of Abuja protestors are held in the Intelligence Response Team (IRT). Others are in Kaduna Police commands, Bombai in Kano, and other regions of the nation.
“Some family members have witnessed their loved ones being held by the police. Some of the family members were permitted to see the demonstrators three days ago.
And even today, Tuesday, when we visited IRT in Abuja, we noticed a few protesters’ relatives present at the establishment.
“People must obtain many approvals before they are permitted to view the demonstrators. They denied attorneys access to the demonstrators.
Three protesting activists are among the demonstrators that the Nigerian government has neglected to charge. Eleojo Opaluwa, Mosiu Sodiq, and Adaramoye Lenin are these people.
Even after keeping them in custody for two weeks, this is the case.
Civil society organisations, or CSOs, have charged that the Federal Government is violating the rights of the demonstrators and using repression as a game.
According to Nuhu Ribadu, the national security adviser, the activists were arrested.
The three have not been charged, thus the government has scheduled their arraignment for August 23.
Concerned for the detainees’ welfare, Dr. Zikirullahi Ibrahim, Executive Director of CHRICED (Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education), voiced her concerns.
“We hope that a good number of the detained protesters are still alive,” he stated in an interview with Vanguard.
“If so, we question why the government is postponing their court date. These people are Nigerian citizens.
Their protest was made possible by the circumstances the administration produced. People protested in the streets by declaring they were hungry. What makes that difficult?
“Of course, we know that in this country, you are treated as a nobody if you’re not a politician, a wealthy individual, or the child of a top security chief, which is why our laws seem uneven in how they handle consequences.”
According to Deji Adeyanju, “They know that protesting is not a crime, which is why they do not want to arraign the protestors.”
“This action is condemned; all they want is to unfairly detain the protestors forever.”
