PRESS RELEASE
TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT CONDEMNS THE UNJUST IMPRISONMENT OF #ENDBADGOVERNANCE PROTESTERS IN BORNO STATE
The Take It Back Movement strongly condemn the barbaric and unjust conviction of seven young Nigerians in Maiduguri, Borno State, for daring to participate in the historic August 1–10, 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests.
According to credible reports, including Amnesty International, these teenagers and youths, aged between 15 and 17, have been sentenced to a combination of five years in prison, community service, and public flogging.
Their so-called “crime” was nothing more than creating a WhatsApp protest group to mobilize their peers against hunger, corruption, and the suffocating hardship imposed by the Nigerian ruling class.
This travesty of justice, orchestrated by Governor Babagana Zulum’s administration, is nothing short of state terror.
Charging innocent teenagers with “taking up arms against the government” for forming a peaceful WhatsApp group is not only a grotesque lie but a dangerous escalation of the criminalization of dissent in Nigeria.
We declare without equivocation that this sham trial and sentencing are a direct attack on democracy, human rights, and the very essence of freedom. It is both cowardly and wicked that while Boko Haram terrorists are rewarded, rehabilitated, and reintegrated into society, innocent young Nigerians who peacefully demand good governance are brutalized, caged, and flogged.
The Take It Back Movement demands the immediate and unconditional release of these seven youths. Their convictions must be quashed, and those responsible for this judicial and political persecution must be held accountable.
Let it be clear: these outrageous convictions will not silence the Nigerian people. If anything, they strengthen our resolve to resist tyranny, oppression, and the continued weaponization of poverty and fear against our people.
The fight against hunger, corruption, and bad governance in Nigeria cannot and will not be crushed by intimidation, kangaroo courts, or prison walls. History is on the side of the oppressed, and tyranny, no matter how long it lasts, shall crumble.
Signed,
Sanyaolu Juwon
National Coordinator, Take It Back Movement
Leave a Reply