No fewer than 10 #EndBadGovernance agitators popularly called hunger protesters have been remanded in the Suleja and Kuje prisons for demonstrating against the Federal Government’s economic policies.
Of the 10 protesters, nine male demonstrators were remanded in Kuje prison while a female protester was remanded in Suleja.
The 10 persons who were arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite are Michael Adaramoye also known as Lenin, Adeyemi Abayomi, Suleiman Yakubu, Opaoluwa Simon, Angel Innocent, Buhari Lawal, Mosiu Sadiq, Bashir Bello, Nuradeen Khamis, and Abdulsalam Zubairu.
They were remanded on Monday after the Nigerian Police arraigned the protesters before the Federal High Court in Abuja for alleged treason, mutiny and intent to destabilise Nigeria.
After listening to arguments from all parties on Monday, Justice Emeka Nwite, remanded the suspects and fixed September 11 for trial as well as ruling on the bail application.
The defendants, who all pleaded not guilty, were arraigned on six counts of alleged treason, intent to destabilise Nigeria, conspiracy to commit felony and inciting to mutiny which is an offence punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code.
The defendants are equally accused of levying war against the state to intimidate President Bola Tinubu by attacking and injuring police officers and burning police stations, government buildings and private buildings.
Responding to the trial of protesters arrested during the nationwide #EndBadGovrnance protests between 1–10 August, Isa Sanusi Director of Amnesty International Nigeria said, “We condemn the sham trials even before they began and call for an end to these endless bizarre attempts to deprive people of the right to peaceful protest.
What is going to happen to these protesters — who took to the streets last month seeking good governance — is a disguised exercise solely aimed at punishing dissenters.
“The Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested from 1-10 August for exercising their right to peaceful assembly, instead of resorting to putting them through trumped-up charges just to justify unlawfully detaining them”
“The Nigerian government has been wrongfully placing priority on punishing protesters, without saying even a word on the urgent need to investigate the killing of dozens of protesters across Kano, Katsina, Suleja/Tafa, Jigawa and Maiduguri. Many protesters were subjected to horrific violations by security personnel, including excessive use of force and misuse of tear gas.”
