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Saraki Hails Freedom for #EndBadGovernance Protesters, Says Charging Minors with Treason Shouldn’t have Happened at all!
...Solicits urgent aids for the minors
Former Senate President and stalwart of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Bukola Saraki,Tuesday, praised the decision to set all 119 #EndBadGovernance protesters standing trial for treasonable felony free, particularly the 32 minors detained with adults in prison and slammed with the same charge.
Saraki, however, declared that charging juveniles with such a serious offence and detaining them in prison under appalling conditions constituted a great embarrassment that should not have happened in the first place.
The former senate president bared his mind on the development via a post on his official X handle, @bukolasaraki, few hours after the detainees regained their freedom.
The case in which minors were paraded in terrible physical condition as treasonable felons should not have arisen at all. That spectacle in court does not present good optics for our dear country.
Here is Dr. Bukola Saraki verbatim:
It is a big relief to me that the case against the minors arrested over the #EndBadGovernance protest has now been withdrawn and the entire issue has been resolved.
The case in which minors were paraded in terrible physical condition as treasonable felons should not have arisen at all. That spectacle in court does not present good optics for our dear country.
Nigeria is a leader in the world and therefore we must provide leadership by avoiding cases that present us in bad light. Our security agents must be conscious of the image of the country even while seeking to enforce the laws.
Let me commend the AGF, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for his quick intervention after the Friday court case which set in motion the process that has eventually led to the withdrawal of the matter, as ordered by President Bola Tinubu.
I call on the Federal and State Governments as well as well-to-do individuals to come to the aid of these minors. We need to help them to achieve easy rehabilitation and reunion with their respective families.
This present situation should present us with an opportunity to resettle them into society as more responsible individuals with the chance to grow up and become skilled, patriotic, and hopeful adults.
