CISLAC condemns detention of minors in #EndBadGovernance protests, demands immediate release
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has strongly condemned the detention and alleged mistreatment of minors involved in the #EndBadGovernance protests.
Reports indicate that several minors, some under 15, collapsed from malnutrition in a Federal High Court in Abuja, heightening concerns about their welfare in police custody.
In a statement signed by CISLAC’s Executive Director, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, the organization called on First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu to view these young detainees as “her own children” and urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene.
CISLAC implored government officials, including the Minister of Justice, to take immediate action to release the minors.
“It is disturbing and damaging to Nigeria’s global image to witness such treatment of young citizens who were only exercising their constitutional rights,” Rafsanjani said, adding that the maltreatment of these minors “must end.”
Graphic images and videos from the courtroom show the minors lying on the floor as lawyers and concerned individuals attempted to revive them. According to reports, they were denied adequate food and medical care during their detention, conditions allegedly intended to punish them for participating in protests.
CISLAC has also appealed to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to defend the rights of these detained minors and called for international bodies like UNICEF and Save the Children Foundation to intervene. “Detaining these children under such appalling conditions is unconscionable,” Rafsanjani emphasized, calling for swift accountability for those responsible.
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The minors, detained since August on accusations of plotting to destabilize the government, are, according to CISLAC, being held unjustly. Rights groups argue their detention breaches national and international human rights standards, urging the immediate release of the children to uphold the rule of law and respect for human rights.
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