Nigerian government, on Friday, arraigned 76 persons, mainly underage children detained over involvement in the August nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest, before Justice Obiora Egwuatu of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, Nigeria.
The suspects are facing a ten-count charge bordering on alleged treason, and conspiracy to commit felony with intent to destabilize Nigeria, which is contrary to Section 96 and punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code Act.
The protesters, 76 of them, who are mainly minors, looked malnourished as four of them were hurriedly rushed out of the courtroom as they couldn’t stand on their feet. Looking very sickly, they wriggled in pain on the floor of the courtroom.
They were arrested and detained during the August 1 to 10, nationwide protest in the country which was sparked by widespread economic hardship that led many Nigerians to take to the streets to express their grievances.
The 76 protesters were arrested randomly in Abuja, Kaduna, Gombe, Jos, Katsina, and Kano and are being charged for treason, among many other counts.
The protesters are; Nura Ibrahim 24yrs, Abdulbasi Abdusalami, 34yrs, Ahmed Yusuf 25yrs, Awolu Abdulahi 21yrs, Umar Musa 15yrs, Muhammadu Mustapha 16yrs, Umar Muhammed 23yrs, Umar Inusa 18yrs, Abdullahi Sani 21yrs, Abba Usman 30yrs, Ibrahim Rabiu 16yrs, Abubakar San, 19yrs, Abubakar Abdullahi 18yrs, Amir Muhammed 17yrs, Umar Ali 17yrs, Saminu Sani 22yrs, Muhammed Musa 14yrs, Suleiman Dauda 18yrs, Ismail Abdullah 27yrs and Haruna Suleiman 22yrs.
Others are: Bello Abdullahi 23yrs, Usman Yunusa 20yrs, Umar Umar 25yrs, Sani Aliyu 17yrs, Yusuf Lawal 21yrs, Abba Adamu 22yrs, Abbas Hamza 20yrs, Tasiu Lawal 16yrs, Jamilu Haruna 16yrs, Usman Mohammed 20yrs, Aminu Usaini 20yrs, Aminu Mohammed 24yrs, Abdullahi Suleiman 16yrs, Bilal Auwalu 15yrs, Umar Kabir 22yrs, Abubakar Ibrahim 18yrs, Usman Yusuf 22yrs, Abubakar Adam 16yrs, Suleiman Ali 16yrs, Mubarak Hamza 23yrs, Ibrahim Musa 24yrs, Samani ALI 25yrs, Yahaya Sani 20yrs, Umar Sani 26yrs, Abbas Haliru 24yrs, Sani Idris 17yrs, Tashiru Mohammed 18yrs, Abdulaziz Abubakar 15yrs, Usman Sirajo 16yrs and Musa Adam 22yrs.
The rest are; Mukhtari Yahaya 17yrs, Abba Ahmad 23yrs, Umar Mohammed 24yrs, Yahaya Musa 18yrs, Umar Abdullahi 17yrs, Salisu Adamu 16yrs, Habibu Sani 17yrs, Sadiq Sanusi 15yrs, Ibrahim Sani 17yrs, Mustapha Kabir 16yrs, Saifullah Mohammed 17yrs, Hassan Mohammed 17yrs, Mustapha Abubakar 17yrs, Sanusi Nura 14yrs, Abdulmalik Auwal 19yrs, Musa Ishaku 17yrs, Abdulrahman Ibrahim 17yrs, Usman Ibrahim, Usman Fatihu 21yrs, Abdulganiu Musa 15yrs, Sagir Hassan 19yrs, Saidu Usman 25yrs, Abubakar Muhammed 22yrs, Kabiru Sani 25yrs, Muhammed Yahaya 14yrs, Mukhtar Alhassan 16yrs, and Mustapha Ibrahim 18yrs.
The Court has resumed its sitting, and charges are being read individually to the protesters.