The National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has condemned totally the treason charge the Nigeria Police Force filed against minors that were accused of participating in the recent #EndBadGovernance protest that held across the country.
In a statement by its Executive Secretary, Tony Ojukwu, the Human right body maintained that the arraignment of the minors for allegedly attempting to overthrow the government of President Bola Tinubu, clearly contravenes a plethora of national, regional and international laws.
While it knocked the Federal High Court in Abuja for imposing what it described as “draconian bail condition” that would be impossible for the accused teenagers to fulfill. The commission commended the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, for asking the police to transfer the case-file to his office for a review.
The NHRC highlighted that its criticism is mainly centered “on insensitivity of the prosecution and the court for the lack of humanity, accountability and impunity in the application of the law to the children, the severe nature of the charges, the draconian bail conditions and the potential for the psychological harm such impunity in actions might cause minors, bearing in mind that there are procedures for the treatment of the underaged, even when they come in conflict with the law.