Nigerian former Minister of Education and activist, Oby Ezekewsili has shamefaced the country judicial system for arraigning minors in court on Friday 1st November 2024.
Recall that against the federal government warning, Nigerians had filed out on the 1st of August to protest against bad governance as the citizens face hardship, poverty, and downward economic spiral among others, barricading roads and street.
However, in September, 10 members of the Endbadgovernance protesters were arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja on charges of attempting to overthrow President Bola Ahmed Tinubu between July 1 and August 4.
The accused persons were said to have committed the treasonable offence during their one-week nationwide protests when they allegedly levied war against Nigeria. 76 protesters were locked up while spending about 80 days in detention.
A viral video that circulated on social media Friday, one of the minors had collapsed in court, apparently of hunger while the rest of them were looking malnourished and ill-treated.
Ezekwesili had questioned the independency of the judicial system in a democratic era stating: “Our Democracy has degraded to this barbaric depth? The bedrock of our democracy is the rule of law and that means we have to have an independent judiciary, judges who can make decisions independent of the political winds that are blowing. ~~Caroline Kennedy.
She called out the Chief Justice of Nigeria, demanding a swift release of the victims: “How did the Nigerian Constitution become so useless that the Nigerian Judiciary could allow such violations of the rights of these minors to happen at such egregious levels? The NBA, where are you? What exactly is this, our dear Chief Justice of Nigeria?
“Can we the Citizens of Nigeria count on you for a clean sweep of this version of our Judiciary? These children must be swiftly released to their parents and guardians, and adequately compensated for the damages done them by the Nigerian State.” The former minister added.