Again! police fail to arraign protesters

Human rights activist and lawyer to the #Endbadgovernance protesters, Mr. Deji Adeyanju, said the Police, again, refused to arraign protesters in its custody before a Federal High Court in Abuja, which was postponed from Monday to Tuesday.

Meanwhile, as the Nigerian government has again failed to arraign three activists involved in the protest, Adaramoye Lenin, Mosiu Sodiq and Eleojo Opaluwa, despite holding them in detention for two weeks, Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, have accused the Federal Government of playing game of suppression on the protesters.

This came as Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights, CDWR, condemned the invasion of the headquarters of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, after the protest and continued detension of protesters across the country.

Adeyanju in an interview on Tuesday, said: “The arraignment of protesters could not hold today (yesterday) again because the police are deliberately doing this to frustrate the lawyers and comrades in the country because they were the ones that told us reliably that they would arraigned the protesters on Monday. Then they said again today (Tuesday), and now they said Friday this week.

“The reason they do not want to arraign the protesters is because they know that protesting is not a crime, they just want to perpetually keep the protesters in custody unjustly, and this action stands condemned.”

Police refuse to disclose charge against protesters
Further he said: “We told them (Police) to avail us the charge on Monday, which they said they would but they didn’t. We told them to avail us of the charge today (Tuesday), they have refused. Can protesting be an offence?”

Over 1, 400 protesters nationwide in police custody
“We do not have a specific number but we have no fewer than 1,400 protesters, who were arrested nationwide in detention. In Abuja, we are aware that no fewer than 50 people were arrested. We were able to secure the release of 27 people and it is assumed that 30 or more people are in custody.”

Protesters in Police custody
“Many of the protesters in Abuja are in the Intelligence Response Team, IRT; Bombai in Kano, and Kaduna Police Command, and other parts of the country.

“Some family members have seen their relations in police custody. Three days ago, some of the family members were allowed to see the protesters, and even today, when we were at IRT in Abuja, we saw some of the family members of the protesters at the facility. Before people are allowed to see the protesters, they have to get several clearances, they did not allow lawyers to have access to the protesters.

Feeding of protesters
“For now, the majority of the protesters feed once a day from what we have heard, which is just a local arrangement with the police.

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Torture of Protesters
“We cannot ascertain where they are being tortured because lawyers are not allowed to have access to the protesters.”

FG playing game of suppression on protesters — CSOs
The activists were detained under orders from National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu. Their detention has been widely criticised as an attempt to suppress dissent.

No charges have been filed against the trio, prompting the government to postpone their arraignment to August 23. The move has sparked outrage, with some civil society groups viewing it as a violation of their rights.

Dr. Zikirullahi Ibrahim, Executive Director of Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education CHRICED, expressed concern over the detainees’ well-being.

He said: “We hope that a good number of the detained protesters are still alive. If they are, we wonder why the government is delaying their day in court. These are citizens of Nigeria.

“The situation the government has created enabled their protest. People said they are hungry and took to the streets to protest. What is difficult about that?

“Of course, we know that in this country, if you’re not a politician, the child of a top security chief, or a wealthy individual, you are treated as a nobody, and that’s why our laws seem lopsided in dealing with consequences.

“In a more civilised society, the President and his security chiefs would have buried their heads in shame and resigned from office. The minimum a government can offer its citizens is ensuring food security.

“But what our security agencies have done to please their masters is detain innocent citizens and play games with their arraignment. We have reached a point where we should bring this matter before the international community.”

A member of the Take-It-Back-Movement, who spoke under anonymity for security reasons also condemned the government’s actions, saying: “The Nigerian government failed to bring Adaramoye Lenin, Mosiu Sodiq and Eleojo Opaluwa to court today, despite their two-week detention under orders from the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu.

“Instead of releasing them, the government deployed security forces to the court, apparently to suppress planned protests.”

The CSOs also said the government’s decision to deploy security forces to the court suggests an attempt to intimidate protesters, who had planned to demonstrate in support of the detained activists.

An ultimatum demanding the release of all detained protesters is expected to be issued soon, adding to the growing pressure on the government to respect human rights.

CDWR demands end to intimidation
In a statement, CDWR’s National Publicity Secretary, Chinedu Bosah, said: “We have not forgotten that Joe Ajaero was attacked and beaten in Imo State by state-sponsored thugs and security agents in November 2023, which led to his hospitalisation.

“It is in the facility of this same Intelligence Response Team, IRT, that Michael Lenin and Mosiu Sodiq, who were abducted by the operatives of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, in the wee hours of August 5, over #Endbadgovernance protest, have been incarcerated without trial for over two weeks now.

“Nuhu Ribadu, President Bola Tinubu’s NSA, has been deploying the IRT and NIA in addition to Department of State Service, DSS, to harass, attack and arrest organisers and perceived supporters of the nationwide protest against mass hunger and economic hardship.

“It is clear that President Tinubu-led regime is now a civilian dictatorship, which uses brute force to crush all dissenting views and genuine opposition. We are now back to the dark days of the military, where activists were arrested, abducted, detained, tortured and sometimes killed.

“In addition to what happened during the military regimes, wherein the police and military were regularly used to attack activists, the Tinubu government is enlisting the judiciary, gangs and thugs to repress democratic and constitutional rights.

“The government has also started to freeze bank accounts belonging to non-governmental organisations, NGOs, and pro-people organisations. We condemn this arm-twisting and repressive tactics of the government.”