•Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), today Thursday said a total of 2,111 individuals were arrested during the 10-day nationwide protests.
The #EndBadGoveranceInNigeria protests, which commenced on August 1 and ended on 10, were in response to the economic hardship experienced by the citizens, reports The PUNCH.
But Falana, in a statement, lamented that despite the fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution, security operatives clamped down on protesters in many states.
Giving a breakdown of the figures of arrested protesters, Falana said 873 protesters were arrested in Kano, 403 in Jigawa, Katsina 120, Gombe 111, Sokoto 110 and Borno 99 among others.
He said, “Notwithstanding the official recognition of the fundamental right of the Nigerian people to protest against unpopular policies of governments, the security forces have continued to clamp down on protesters in many states of the federation.
During the protests, a total of 2,111 people were arrested in the following states and the Federal Capital Territory:
Falana added that out of the arrested suspects a total of 1,403 have been arraigned in courts and remanded in prisons due to lack of legal representation.
He said, “Out of the 2,111 arrested suspects, 1,403 have been arraigned in various courts. Painfully, the suspects were ordered to be remanded in prison custody due to a lack of legal representation.
“The suspects were denied legal representation even though the Nigerian Bar Association had publicly announced its intention to provide lawyers to defend them.
“We have also confirmed that individual lawyers who had applied for the bail of the detained suspects in police stations were not informed that they were going to be arraigned in the courts. “
Falana said the government’s decision to deny the suspects legal representation was contrary to the provision of Section 36 of the constitution and other charters Nigeria is a signatory to.
He said, “We submit that the decision by the authorities to deny the suspects legal representation constitutes a violent breach of their fundamental right to fair hearing guaranteed by Section 36 of the Constitution and article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.
“This is highly discriminatory and illegal on the ground that politically exposed persons who are arrested for looting the treasury to the tune of several billions of Naira are usually informed in advance of the dates and of their arraignment in the courts. Such highly placed suspected looters are always granted bail in liberal terms and even authorised by trial judges to travel abroad for medical treatment.”
He also raised the alarm that security agencies had taken advantage of the protest to arrest radical citizens.
