ABUJA— The Federal Government has withdrawn the treason charge it entered against minors that participated in the recent #EndBadGovernance protest that held across the country.
The government, through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, officially took over the case-file on Tuesday and notified the Federal High Court in Abuja of his decision to discontinue the case against the protesters.
The application for discontinuance, which was moved by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, DPPF, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, was anchored on provisions of sections 174(1), (b) and (c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.
The DPPF also applied for the proceeding to be conducted without the presence of the minors in the courtroom, in line with provisions of section 266 (b) of the ACJA, 2015, and section 1 of the Childs’ Rights Act.
Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Fanala, SAN, as well as other defence lawyers in the matter, said they were not opposed to the applications.
Consequently, trial Justice Obiora Egwuatu struck out the charge.
It will be recalled that four minors, who were among 76 persons the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, charged for participating in the protest, slumped before they could be arraigned before the court last Friday.
The teenagers, between the ages of 14 and 17, who appeared ill and malnourished, collapsed after they were marshalled in for arraignment.
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Owing to the development, police delisted the four affected teenagers from the charge sheet, even as it proceeded to dock the other defendants who were subsequently granted very stringent bail conditions by the court.
However, following a public outcry that trailed the arraignment of the minors, the AGF, ordered police to transfer the case-file to his office for a review.
Barely 24 hours after the AGF gave the directive, President Bola Tinubu ordered the immediate withdrawal of the charge and an in-depth investigation into what led to the arrest and detention of the minors.