The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has condemned in its entirety the arraignment for treason of children and minors who allegedly participated in the recent nationwide #EndGadGovernance protests.
The Commission stated that the arrest, detention and arraignment of the minors by the Nigeria Police on charges of treason and attempting to overthrow a legitimate government among other charges clearly contravenes a plethora of national, regional and international laws.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Dr Tony Ojukwu SAN who made the condemnation in Abuja over the weekend noted that the action of the Nigeria Police has raised significant concerns among senior lawyers and legal experts, the human rights community, development partners, sister national human rights institutions and well-meaning Nigerians.
According to him, it is widely considered an excessive and inappropriate use of State Institutions against citizens and it is even worse when the victims are children and minors whose best interests were not considered at all in line with the law
