A Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, struck out the treason charge preferred against the minors who participated in the August #EndBadGovernance protest.
The decision of the court comes barely 24 hours after President Bola Tinibu ordered the immediate release of the minors with the Federal Government subsequently withdrawing from the case.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu struck out the charge after the application for the discontinuance was moved by Mohammed Abubakar, a counsel to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
Mr Abubakar, who is the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), premised his application 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.
The lawyer, who told the court that the AGF had officially taken over the case file, said the Federal Government had decided to discontinue the case against the protesters.
The DPPF also applied for the proceeding 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 Child Rights Act.
Counsel to the defendants, including Femi Fanala did not oppose the application.
Justice Egwuatu, consequently, struck out the charges against the protesters who were minors.
Justice Egwuatu on Friday, November 1, 2024, admitted the 114 protesters arraigned by the police to N10 million bail each with two sureties each in like sum.
The judge admitted them to bail after hearing the defence lawyers’ application and the prosecution’s submission.
Two separate charges were brought before Justice Egwuatu.
In the first 10-count charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/503/2024, 76 defendants were listed while in the four-count charge number: FHC/ABJ/CR/527/2024, 43 persons were listed as defendants, making a total of 119 defendants.
However, a total of 114 were later arraigned due to the ill-health of five of the children among the defendants.
In addition, four out of the 76 defendants in the first charge collapsed in open court when the trial commenced.
The four of them were Usman Fatihu (21 years), Muhammed Yahaya (14 years), Muktar Ishak Alhassan (16 years) and Mustapha Ibrahim (18 years).
They are 68th, 74th, 75th, and 76th defendants respectively in the 10-count charge bordering on treason, among other offences.
The development forced the trial judge, Obiora Egwuat to abruptly stand down the trial for about 40 minutes before the court reconvened.
