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    • Ending protests against bad governance: Nigerian government turns away from charging minors
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    Ending protests against bad governance: Nigerian government turns away from charging minors

    Umito Posted on

    Some members of Di pipo police appear in court for Abuja, aged barely 14
    What we call dis photo, Some members of Di pipo police appear in court for Abuja, aged barely 14

    The Nigerian government said on Friday it would pay attention to the arraignment of minors at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    At least 27 of the suspects appeared before the court of Justice Obiora Egwuatu among young boys aged under 18, and some of them were as young as 14 years old.

    The Nigerian Police have booked the suspects in two batches of 76 and 42 to end the protests against bad governance that have been happening across the country.

    However, Nigeria goes through the Attorney General of Kontri, does not ask for the file, makes Mata light the torches.

    In an internal statement, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, asked the police to bring the file of the minors.

    “I just noticed that the police did not bring Di Pipo to justice for arresting them in connection with violent protests against bad governance and in court for various offenses including treason.

    My office will need to review some issues regarding di mata so that I can make an informed decision. »

    I add that although I know that the court does not return the accused to the detention centers and adjourns the case until January, it is not in a position to modify the court order that keeps the minors in the centers detention and adjourn the case. until January.

    “I, however, direct the Nigerian Police to transfer the case file to my office and hand it over to the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF) on Saturday, November 2, 2024.

    I also order the DPPF to immediately put in motion a mechanism for the court to consider bringing forward the adjournment date (to an earlier date),” the statement concludes.

    We are really happy and some of the charges

    Photos of minors inside the Abuja High Court were shared on social media on Friday, as a judge in Nigeria granted bail to each of the 114 police officers who were arrested during protests against poor governance in August 2024.

    Justice Obiora Egwuatu granted them bail on the 10 main charges of treason, felony and incitement to mutiny for which Nigeria has prosecuted them.

    At least 27 of the suspects were young boys under the age of 18, some of them as young as 14.

    One of the accusations that police say the boys “carried, carried and displayed Russian flags in public and chanted violent revolutionary songs, they called for the Russian invasion of the Nigerian sovereign entity to overthrow the democratic government of Nigeria”.

    Some human rights activists told BBC Pidgin that the teenagers had been in detention since police arrested them in August, and now had 80 days left.

    Goment bin does not bring to justice 10 pipo at the top of the same demonstration, they say that they are the leaders and organizers, and say that they call on the military to overthrow the government.

    During this protest which lasted from August 1 to 10, videos spread on social media where children and adults were flying the Russian flag for parts of Nigeria’s northern region.

    Tori said at the time that protesters were calling on Russia to intervene for Nigeria.

    Nigerian authorities later said they did not arrest the pipo who displayed Russian flags as an offense of treason.

    Four of the accused collapse in court

    In court on Friday, as the court official read the words and called out the defendants, four of the boys collapsed on the floor.

    This causes real drama inside the courtroom as the lawyers – led by Marshal Abubakar and Deji Adeyanju – and oda pipo for the court begin to revive them.

    Eventually, the prosecution lawyer Audu Garba agreed to withdraw the names of the four accused from the charge citing reasons of poor health.

    The accused then began to plead their case one by one after a court official interpreted the charges from English into the Hausa language.

    Bail of 10 million naira each, making a total of 1.14 billion naira

    Justice Egwatu notes that some of the accused are under the age of 18 and that the lawyers do not promise to tell them not to interfere in the trial or destroy evidence.

    We therefore grant them bail in the sum of N10 million each with two sureties. One of the persons involved must be a public servant and that person must be either a parent or sibling of the accused.

    Until the bail conditions are perfected, those who do not reach 18 years of age are remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre, while the juveniles among them are detained at the Borstal Home of the Nigeria Correctional Service.

    “Detention centers” are used to guard and reform minors and young offenders.

    After the first group of 76 accused, the prosecution team also introduced another group of 42 accused from the same set of offenses, bringing the number to 118 accused, but the names of four of them have changed. collapsed in court.

    In total, Justice Egwuatu granted bail of N10 million to 114 of the arrested protesters, bringing the total bail amount to N1.14 billion.

    The trial judge adjourned di mata to January 24, 2025 for hearing.

    What does the law think about prosecuting minors in court?

    According to section 29 of the Constitution of Nigeria, adults cannot attain the age of 18 years. Anyone under this age is a minor.

    Normally when a juvenile commits a predicate offense the juvenile court assumes they will try, but that is not the case for all offenses, Chika Mbanusi told BBC Pidgin.

    Article 30 of the Penal Code Act states that persons are criminally guilty of a civil or criminal offense once the persons do not reach the age of 12 if they have proven, at the time of the “act or omission, that they were incapable of I know that I am not supposed to do something or commit an omission”.

    However, the priority is for the Supreme Court to uphold the judgment of the Jigawa State High Court and the Court of Appeal for the Yusuf Musa v State case for 2022.

    In this case, the Supreme Court declares that an eleven year old minor used several machetes and killed me, being guilty of culpable homicide even though the boy never reached the age of 12 at that time- there.

    Umito
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