Amnesty International Nigeria has condemned the trumped-up charges on #Endhunger protesters by the Nigeria Police stating that the sham trial is a disguised exercise to punish opposing dissenters.
In a statement on Monday following the filing of a charge sheet (FHC/ABJ/CR/454/2024) dated August 30, 2024, by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, as the complainant against the ten defendants, it was alleged that the protesters attempted to overthrow the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with a hunger protest that began on August 1, 2024, due to the increasing cost of living.
Listed as defendants in the suit are Michael Tobilola Adaramoye (aka Lenin), male, 28 years; Adeyemi Abiodun Abayomi (aka Yomi), male, 34 years; Suleiman Yakubu, male, 28 years; Comrade Opaluwa Eleojo Simon (aka Bob-Simon), male, 50 years; Angel Love Innocent (aka Loveth), female, 51 years; Buhari Lawal, male, 21 years; Mosiu Sadiq, male, 28 years; Bashir Bello (aka Murtala), male, 51 years; Nuradeen Khamis, male, 47 years; and Abdulsalam Zubairu, male, 37 years.
Others listed in the suit include Andrew Martin Wynne (aka Andrew Povich), a 70-year-old British citizen; Lucky Ehis Obiyan, male; Comrade Musa Abdullahi, male; and others now at large.
Speaking, Amnesty accused the Nigerian State of being unfair to protesters who were exercising their rights and manipulating the justice system to silence voices of the Nigerian people.
“Amnesty International condemns the sham trial of the protesters even before it began, and calls for an end to these endless bizarre attempts to deprive people of the right to peaceful protest. The unfair trial is only a disguised exercise solely aimed at punishing dissenters.
“Some of the charges to be filed against the protesters, ranging from treason, which carries the death penalty and allegations of ‘plans to destabilize Nigeria,’ show how far the Nigerian authorities can go in manipulating the criminal justice system to silence critical voices.
“The Nigerian government has been wrongfully placing priority on punishing protesters, without saying even a word on the urgent need to impartially investigate the killing of dozens of protesters across Kano, Katsina, Suleja/Tafa, Jigawa and Maiduguri.”
Meanwhile, one of the charges stated that the defendants, from 1st July, 2024, to 10th August, 2024, in Nyanya, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, Katsina, and many other states, conspired to “destabilise Nigeria and incited mutiny by calling on the military to take over the government from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by chanting ‘Tinubu Must Go’ and ‘soja muskeso,’ meaning ‘Tinubu must go, it is military we want,’ while rioting and disturbing public peace, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 413 of the Penal Code (Northern States) Federal Provisions Act CAP P3 LFN 2004.”
