Teenagers allegedly involved in the #EndBadGovernance protests, which swept across Nigeria from August 1 to 10, 2024, arrived at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday in visibly poor condition for their arraignment.
In courtroom videos obtained by PUNCH Online, some male protesters appeared visibly malnourished and dishevelled. Some of them lay on the floor, groaning, as they were provided with biscuits and bottled water.
A voice from the video can be heard saying, “As you can see, they have been malnourished. They haven’t eaten for the past four days. They’ve been kept by the government in detention. These are boys between 12, 13, 14 years old.
“They haven’t had food; they are malnourished, they are sick, they were slumping. They’ve been kept for three months. They have been left without food. We had to provide food for them.”
Truetells Nigeria reports that seventy-five suspects, ranging in age from twelve to fifteen, appeared before Justice Obiora Egwuatu on a 10-count charge related to their involvement in the protest.
The suspects, who were allegedly arrested on August 3rd and have since been in detention, are accused of attempting to overthrow the government of President Bola Tinubu by participating in the nationwide protest.
However, when they were arraigned in court on Friday, some of the suspects fainted, which made Justice Egwuatu rise abruptly.
The development caused panic in the courtroom, with some background voices questioning why such young children should be arraigned in court.
See video below: