EndBadGovernance Protesters: We Were Starved, Locked Up With Criminals – Minors

Following a reprieve granted by President Bola Tinubu on Monday, several minors, aged between 14 and 17, who were detained during the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protests in August, have spoken to The PUNCH about their traumatic experiences while in custody.

On Friday, 76 suspects, including 32 minors – who were arrested during the protest – were arraigned by the Inspector-General of Police on 10 counts bordering on treason, intent to destabilise Nigeria and inciting to mutiny by calling on the military to take over the government from President Tinubu, among others.

Four of the minors, who looked visibly malnourished, collapsed during court proceedings before Justice Obiora Egwuatu at the Abuja division of the Federal High Court.

It sparked outcry across the country, with civil society groups and rights activists blaming the police and the government over their treatment of the minors from Kano and Kaduna states.

Following the uproar, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, during an emergency briefing on Monday, told State House correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja that President Tinubu had directed the immediate release of all the minors.

Consequently, the Abuja High Court in Abuja struck out the charges brought against the protesters by the police.

Idris said the President also “directed that all the law enforcement agents involved in the arrest and the legal processes will be investigated, and if there are any infractions found to have been committed by any official of Government, be him a law enforcement agency, or whoever that person may be appropriate, disciplinary action will be taken against him or her.”

On Tuesday, Vice President Kashim Shettima, before handing over the minors to the Governor of Kano State, Abba Kabir Yusuf, and his Kaduna counterpart, Uba Sani, argued that President Tinubu’s decision, made on humanitarian grounds despite evidence of wrongdoing, was an opportunity for personal reform.

The minors returned to Kano and Kaduna on Tuesday night with tales of woes, describing their experiences while in custody as “hellish.”

Those from from Kano have been kept at the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital, where they are being checked and treated by a team of medical personnel. They are expected to remain in the hospital for five days, before they would be reunited with their families.

Some of them, who spoke to The PUNCH at the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital where they were taken on their return to Kano on Tuesday night, said they were denied food by the government officials for several days.

“We saw hell; we suffered a lot,” one of the minors, Umar Ali, 15, said. “We sometimes stayed for three days without food. And even when we were given food, it was always not enough.”

Ali denied involvement in the protest saying he was arrested on his way to the market at Kwana Hudu in Ungoggo Local Government Area of the state, where he usually does menial jobs to sustain himself.

He added that they were kept in the dark while under custody, which he said affected some of them when they went for trial.

“We hardly saw sunlight in the place where we were kept, hence the reason why some of us could not see very well when we were brought to the court,” he said.

Another minor, Ibrahim Aliyu Musa, who was transferred from Kano to Abuja a day after his arrest, said he and others were kept in the same place with hardened criminals.

“I was among those that were kept in the same place with hardened criminals and we sometimes spent a number of days without food.

“The food was nothing to write home about, they were inadequate and tasteless. They served us beans in the morning, rice at lunch time and Gabza for dinner. Gabza is normally prepared for inmates due to their large number. So, we had to eat Gabza so as to keep body and soul moving,” Musa added.

Also narrating his ordeal, a 13-year-old boy, who said he was arrested at Gadon Kaya in Gwale Local Government Area, said he was accused of flying the Russian flag, which he denied doing.

“I was arrested on the August 15 and moved to Abuja the following day. We were kept at Abattoir SARS in Abuja. We were kept with hardened criminals for the number of days we were there,” he said.

The 39 detained protesters from Kaduna State on Wednesday reunited with their families.

The children were given N100,000  and A18s model Itel android phones each by the Kaduna State Government.

The brief ceremony was held at the Children Home along Kauru road in the metropolis, with Governor Uba Sani promising to rehabilitate and empower the released #EndBadGovernance protesters from the state.

This, the governor said, provided they turned a new leaf and become responsible and law abiding members of the society.

Speaking to journalists after the protesters were released, the Secretary to the Kaduna State Government, Dr  Abdulkadir Muazu Meyere, who spoke on behalf of Governor Sani, disclosed that the governor had directed him to collect  the credentials of those who had completed their tertiary education.

“The governor promised that some of them would be given start-up capital to commence trading, others would be taught skills and some given employment,” he said.

However, the SSG noted that they would track the activities and conduct of all the 39 minors to ensure they were of good behaviour “before these benefits will be extended to them.”

Meyere noted  that the state government had taken the details of the released detainees, including contact addresses, telephone numbers and names  of their next-of-kin for easy tracking and monitoring.

According to him, the minors were all medically examined and given psycho-social counseling on the need to change for the better, in order to be useful to themselves and the society at large.

“Both Islamic and Christian religious leaders preached to them to embrace the teachings of their faith and to avoid bad company, so as to benefit from God’s blessings here and in the hereafter,” he said.

Meanwhile, one of the released minors, Hassan Mohammed, a graduate of Economics from the Kampala University, narrated his ordeal during his 90 days incarceration at the Kuje Prison, Abuja.

Mohammed said, “I was arrested on August 5 along Ahmadu Bello Way here in Kaduna. When they took us to the State Criminal Investigation Department, they asked why we were protesting and we explained.

“They took our statements and from there they took us to Abuja FCID, where we spent 18 days before they took us to Kuje Prison.

On how they were feeding while at the Kuje Prison, he added, “Honestly, it was terribly bad, not good at all. They gave us small portions of  garri and beans. It was a bad experience being in that place.”