Human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has made an appeal to Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.
Falana urged Fagbemi to drop charges against Adaramoye Michael Lenin and 10 others, who are set to appear in court on November 8, 2024.
He also called on the President Bola Tinubu regime to enroll the recently released minors in school, as required by law. This statement comes shortly after the Federal High Court in Abuja struck out treason charges against 119 Nigerians, including those detained since August for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests.
Falana led the charge in court on Tuesday, emphasizing the Nigerian government’s responsibility to rehabilitate and enroll all affected children in school upon their return to their respective states.
This move is crucial, considering the alarming number of out-of-school children in Nigeria, with over 7.6 million girls not attending school at the basic education level.
As the lead counsel, Falana did not contest the application to withdraw charges.
However, the human rights lawyer told the government representatives from the AGF’s office that they must also as a matter of urgency withdraw the cases of 11 others including Lenin facing treason charges.
Falana noted that the government must also rehabilitate and enrol all the kids in school upon return to their various states.
The lawyer also called on the governments of Kano, Katsina, Borno and Kaduna to immediately discontinue the #EndBadGovernance trial in all their states immediately.
The ruling to withdraw the charges was pronounced by Obiora Egwuatu, the presiding judge, who struck out the case following an application by M.D Abubakar, counsel for the AGF.
Abubakar had applied that the AGF should take over the suit, which was subsequently discontinued.
SaharaReporters had reported that following their rejection at Kuje Prison, the malnourished minors were detained by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in a facility meant for adults at the Intelligence Response Team unit in the Apo area of the Federal Capital Territory
The kids who were earlier granted bail on stringent terms by Justice Obiora Egwuatu were 24. Still, about 20 of them had been hospitalised at an undisclosed hospital, sources told SaharaReporters last Friday night.
On Monday, President Bola Tinubu ordered the release of the underage children arraigned before an Abuja Federal High Court on Friday, November 1, following national and international outrage and condemnation.
The widespread criticism came after some minors collapsed in court last Friday during their arraignment, sparking a national outrage.
This dramatic turn of events led to President Tinubu ordering the release of the minors, who were among 119 protesters arrested for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protests. The protesters, aged 12-34, faced charges including terrorism, treason, and conspiracy, with many criticizing the government’s response to the youth-led demonstrations.
Credit: Saharareporters
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