The federal government has dropped the treason charge it brought against young people who took part in the nationwide #EndBadGovernance demonstration.
On Tuesday, FG formally assumed control of the case file through the office of Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and informed the Federal High Court in Abuja of his intention to drop the case against the demonstrators.
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.
Mr. Femi Fanala, SAN, a human rights lawyer, and other defence lawyers involved in the case stated that they had no objections to the applications. Consequently, trial Justice Obiora Egwuatu struck out the charge.
Recall that last Friday, four kids who were among the 76 people prosecuted by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for taking part in the demonstration fainted before they could be arraigned in court.
After being brought to court, the teens, who looked sick and malnourished were between the ages of 14 and 17, passed out.
Despite docking the other offenders who were later granted extremely strict bail conditions by the presiding judge, authorities removed the four impacted youngsters from the charge sheet due to the development.
Consequently, the AGF ordered police to move the case file to his office for evaluation after a public uproar followed the youngsters’ arraignment.
President Bola Tinubu ordered the immediate dismissal of the charge and a thorough inquiry into the circumstances leading to the children’s arrest and incarceration just twenty-four hours after the AGF issued the instruction.
