A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has struck out the suit against persons charged over the nationwide #EndBadGovernance protest. The Federal Government (FG) on Tuesday through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, took over the case file and notified the Federal High Court in Abuja of its decision to discontinue the case against the protesters.
The application for discontinuance was filed on behalf of the AGF by by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, DPPF, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, was anchored on provisions of sections 174(1), (b) and (c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.
Furthermore, the DPPF applied for the proceedings to be conducted without the presence of the minors in the courtroom, in line with provisions of Section 266(b) of the ACJA, 2015, and Section 1 of the Childs’ Rights Act.
Mr Femi Falana and other defense lawyers in the case stated that they were not opposed to the applications, the trial judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu then struck out the charge.
Recall that minors were among the 76 persons that were charged by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for participating in the #EndBadGovernance protest.
The minors who looked ill and malnourished, collapsed after they were presented for arraignment last week which resulted in nationwide public outcry.
The AGF then ordered the NPF to transfer the case file to his office for review and less than 24 hours after the AGF’s directive, President Bola Tinubu ordered for the immediate release of the defendants and ordered for a comprehensive investigation to uncover what led to the arrest and detention of the minors.