Deputy inspector-General of Police, Intelligence, Dasuki Galadanchi, has revealed that the rial of #EndBadGovernance protesters will begin in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and Borno today.
The DIG disclosed this at the just-ended Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
He said those to be charged to court today were 126 suspects who were arrested for waving the Russian flag and demanding regime change during the protest, which snowballed into violence that resulted in deaths and looting of private and public assets in some states.
A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, will lead other lawyers to defend the protesters before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The protesters had been arrested following the August 1-10 nationwide protest against the hardship in the country, which was believed to have been caused by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and currency floatation.
This is just as a group of detained #EndBadGovernance protesters yesterday urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to lift its order permitting the police to remand them for two months earlier this month.
Justice Nwite had, on August 22, granted applications filed by the police to remand 124 arrested #EndBadGovernance protesters for 60 days pending the conclusion of investigation.
Similarly, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) had, on Thursday, called for the immediate and unconditional release of the detained protesters.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Isa Sanusi, Director, Amnesty International Nigeria, said the organisation was deeply concerned that the protesters to be arraigned today would only be subjected to another round of government’s unrelenting intent to punish protesters and demonise protests.
“We condemn the sham trials even before they began and call for an end to these endless bizarre attempts to deprive people of the right to peaceful protest. What is going to happen to these protesters, who took to the streets last month seeking good governance, is a disguised exercise solely aimed at punishing dissenters,” Sanusi said.
He said that the Nigerian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested for exercising their right to peaceful assembly, instead of resorting to putting them through trumped-up charges just to justify unlawfully detaining them.
“The Nigerian government has been wrongfully placing priority on punishing detained protesters, without saying even a word on the urgent need to investigate the killing of dozens of protesters across Kano, Katsina, Suleja/Tafa, Jigawa and Maiduguri.”
In two ex-parte applications, the Inspector-General of Police sought an interim order to remand the suspects until the conclusion of the investigation, which was granted by Justice Emeka Nwite.