The arraignment of several minors aged between 14 and 17, who were detained during the #EndBadGovernance protests in August left the entire country in commotion.
“This government is wicked”, “this government does not care”, many screamed on social media.
This incident drew the attention of political elite, International bodies as well as civil rights organizations.
With the building pressure, one did not need to tell President Tinubu that chaos may break out if nothing is done quickly.
That was when the president ordered the release of the detained minors.
Tinubu issues the order on Monday.
However, following their release, the minors have recounted their ordeal while in detention.
These minors had taken part in the #EndBadGovernance protest where they joined other Nigerians to protest the hunger in the country.
The #EndBadGovernance Protest
The nationwide demonstrations were sparked by growing discontent over the hardship faced by many Nigerians.
The minors from Kano, currently housed at the Muhammadu Buhari Specialist Hospital, are undergoing medical evaluations and receiving treatment from a team of healthcare professionals.
On Tuesday night at the hospital, some of the released minors shared what they went through.
They disclosed that they endured severe hardships while in detention.
We Saw Hell
One of the minors, Umar Ali, who is just 15 years of age, said: “We saw hell; we suffered a lot.
“We sometimes stayed for three days without food. And even when we were given food, it was always not enough.”
Ali denied involvement in the protest, saying he was arrested on his way to the market at Kwana Hudu in Ungoggo Local Government Area of the state.
That is where he usually does menial jobs to sustain himself.
He added that they were kept in the dark while under custody, which he said affected some of them when they went for trial.
“We hardly saw sunlight in the place where we were kept, hence the reason why some of us could not see very well when we were brought to the court,” he said.
The Transfer
Another minor, Ibrahim Aliyu Musa, who was transferred from Kano to Abuja a day after his arrest, said he and others were kept in the same place with hardened criminals.
“I was among those that were kept in the same place with hardened criminals and we sometimes spent a number of days without food.
“The food was nothing to write home about, they were inadequate and tasteless.
They served us beans in the morning, rice at lunch time and Gabza for dinner.
Gabza is normally prepared for inmates due to their large number. So, we had to eat Gabza so as to keep body and soul moving,” Musa added.
Also narrating his ordeal, a 13-year-old boy, who said he was arrested at Gadon Kaya in Gwale Local Government Area, said he was accused of flying the Russian flag, which he denied doing.
“I was arrested on the August 15 and moved to Abuja the following day.
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“We were kept at Abattoir SARS in Abuja. We were kept with hardened criminals for the number of days we were there,” he said.
But guess what?
Despite how malnourished and unkept these children appeared in court, the Nigeria Police Force has denied maltreating the minors.
On Wednesday, Force spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi, argued that the minors were never kept with criminals.
Adejobi said: “We never maltreated or dehumanised the suspects. That’s not true.
“In fact, they were not kept with hardened criminals at all.
There are many wrong narratives out there to undermine the credibility of the police.”
