By Adadareporters
The Human Rights Volunteer Corps has berated the Nigeria Police for arresting and prosecuting some minors for participating in the bad governance protest which held from August 1 to 10 nationwide.
Recall that the Force public relations officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, had claimed that children below seven years old could be arraigned in court.
Reacting, HRVC’s national coordinator Larry Oguego, Monday, said the Force PRO was defending what is indefensible. Quoting him, “Has the Force PRO forgotten the Child’s Rights Act and all about the juvenile courts? When we serve our masters, we should do that with conscience and equity. He should know that the internet doesn’t lose memory. Someday, what he said will be interrogated. These are the same people who will retire, seek electoral positions and want Nigerians to vote for them tomorrow. The judge that gave that bail condition will also be remembered.
“Police shouldn’t forget the #Endsars in a hurry. The outcry of the fate of these children might be expressed some day too. Because of the #EndSars, police operatives did not wear uniforms for months. I am disappointed in the Force PRO. The police should protect the weak. These boys were living on the streets, and they are asked to provide a L-15 civil servant to bail them. If they know anybody of that class, they wouldn’t have been on the streets.”
According to him, the arrest of the minors was not in the principle of democracy which Nigeria claims to practise. He said, “If you remove the tenets of democracy, democracy will die. Otherwise we shouldn’t be talking about arresting innocent protesters who were expressing their opinions on government. Nigeria is simply practising academic democracy.
“Children are special because they own the future. In a civilised society, when a child is hurt, there must be outcries. It is a pity that nothing is sacred in Nigeria any longer. All this while, we have been on the road to anarchy, and indeed the anarchy has arrived. This is a country where the president has two presidential jets, and when children protest over hunger they face, they are sent to prison.”
Recall that one of the children collapsed before the trial began, and had to be rushed to the clinic of the court for medical attention.
The organisers of the protest said it was organised to express the suffering of a majority of Nigerians since the assumption of Sen Bola Tinubu as Nigeria’s president. Tinubu had in his inaugural speech announced the removal of fuel subsidy, which has skyrocketed the cost of living of the citizens.
