Inibehe Effiong: The Judgement Detaining Minors For Protesting Represents A Criminalisation Of Protests

The counsel for the #EndBadGovernance protesters, Inibehe Effiong, has raised serious concerns about the detention of minors allegedly involved in anti-government protests in Nigeria.

Effiong, in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday, explained that the young people, arrested in various parts of the country during nationwide protests from August 1 to August 10, are being charged with treason, accused of attempting to overthrow the government.

Effiong emphasised that the protests were a response to widespread economic hardship, with Nigerians calling for a shift in government policies amid rising inflation, high unemployment, and reduced purchasing power.

Effiong outlined the troubling legal and humanitarian violations faced by the detainees, including extended detention without court orders, detention of minors in adult facilities, and lack of basic rights such as adequate food, healthcare, and contact with family members.

He asserted that this case represents the “criminalisation of protest,” with the government prosecuting young Nigerians who were peacefully advocating for change.

“The law is clear,” Effiong said, highlighting statutes like the Child’s Rights Act that prohibit minors from being detained alongside adults or tried in conventional courts.

He called for the immediate discontinuation of charges, an investigation into the actions of law enforcement, and a re-evaluation of the role of police public relations.

He criticised the Nigerian government for its handling of the protestors and questioned the legality of detaining children under these charges.

Effiong provided context to the End Bad Governance protests, saying, “I think I should lay a background to this matter. The End Bad Governance protest that lasted from the 1st to the 10th of August 2024 was a nationwide action by Nigerians, particularly young people, who are fed up with the status quo and are demanding the government change the direction things are going.

“The economy is crumbling, inflation has gone very high, the purchasing power of the Nigerian people has been drastically reduced, people are fed up, people are hungry, and that was what prompted people to come out to protest.”

According to Effiong, many of those detained were arrested between July 29 and August 2, primarily in Kaduna and Kano. “There are two sets of defendants: you have the 76 and 43; the minors are 32. They were arrested and detained in different states, particularly Kano and Kaduna, from the 2nd to about the 11th of August, when they were brought to Abuja.”

Effiong alleged that the authorities acted beyond their legal limits, stating, “When they were detained, to the best of our knowledge, the police did not bother to get a remand order. They already detained [them] beyond the constitutional period. They went on to court seeking to legalise their illegality by obtaining a remand order to keep them.”

He added that, though ordered to be placed in a juvenile detention centre, authorities took minors to the former SARS facility in Abuja. “They took them to the former SARS facility in Abuja, the same SARS that we were told has been abolished. They were not properly fed, as we could see from the videos that we saw at the federal high court; they were deprived of their fundamental rights.”

Effiong expressed concerns over what he termed “criminalisation of protest,” adding, “There is now a very deceitful attempt to say that it’s a government that is trying to prosecute people who involved in violence, but what we are seeing is that this case has to do with criminalisation of protest.”

He highlighted that the detention and trial of minors in adult facilities violated Nigerian law. “By law, by virtue of section 15 of a child’s right act, you cannot try a child in the conventional court; it has to be [in a] family court or juvenile court.

“You can’t also detain a child or minors where adults are supposed to be detained. Even the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, section 451, says that ‘in the prosecution or trial of children or minors, it shall be provided under the child’s right act.’”

Effiong noted the distressing conditions faced by the detained minors. “Not properly fed, not properly clothed, and their welfare wasn’t catered for. Some of their parents and relatives were not even aware of where they were kept. It took a series of applications in court to even force them to file these charges and look at the charges they are filing against them.”

On the allegation of carrying Russian flags during the protest, Effiong insisted that these claims were being used to demonise the protesters. “There is a constitutional right to the presumption of innocence, section 36, subsection 5: ‘They are all presumed innocent of whatever charges or allegations that are thrown at them.’ The inspector general of police who filed this charge is not saying that all of them were caught with Russian flags; it was only a few of them, from the proof of evidence.”

He called for swift action from authorities, urging that charges be dropped. “A few things have to happen quickly. Firstly, the Attorney General, pursuant to his power under section 174 of the constitution, must enter a nolle prosequi, discontinue this charge immediately. The police officers who filed these charges should be investigated and should be made to answer some questions.”

Effiong criticised the role of the police public relations officer in the situation, remarking, “The ACJL should redefine the role of the office of the police public relations officer. Is he supposed to make comic relief, to be entertaining Nigerians, when we are discussing serious issues?”

Addressing whether legal actions will be taken on behalf of the minors, Effiong stated, “I’m aware there is already a pending application to set aside the remand order at the federal high court under section 2 of the Universal Basic Education Act, which mandates fulfillment of section 18.

“They are supposed to be educated—compulsory universal education, that is what the Nigerian government owes them. That is one of the reliefs I’m aware is in the application before the federal high court: that you have not given them education or health care, not even able to clothe them. What is the value of a Nigerian life?,”he asked.

Boluwatife Enome

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