I watched with tremendous pain the disturbing images of the children who were brought to court for their alleged demonstration against the government few months ago.
The children appeared sick, hungry, malnourished and mentally unstable and have been kept in custody for upwards of three months with the probability of the knowledge of the Inspector General of Police.
Their degrading and inhumane treatment, including lack of food, water, medical attention is heartbreaking to me and many other right thinking members of the society.
It is shameful that lawyers are in cahoots with the police to prosecute minors for treasonable offences. In better climes, these lawyers would have already been standing trials for professional misconduct.
It is also an abysmal failure on the part of the political establishment that children are subjected to torture for offences not known to the law and for exercising their rights in demonstrating against hunger.
Remanding of minors simply depicts that all is not well with the polity, especially the criminal justice administration and these need a quick fix.
No legal aid, no social services and no constant interaction with the legal system and the parents or guardians of the children and for those months the children were kept out of school for merely protesting. It is indeed shameful on the part of the establishment for allowing this to happen.
The Attorney General of the Federation must without delay enter a nolle prosequi in the court and halt the injustice against the children and also ensure that there is compensation for them.
We are no longer in the military era but In democracy.
Dr George Ogunjimi
LLB, LLM, BL, PhD Dip (journalism)
Juris Republic
Lagos,
02/11/2024.
